News & Media

A Photojournalist’s Best Friend?

Ohio Wesleyan Student Takes Fetching Images of K-9 Officer, Handler

Photojournalists typically pursue their subjects with dogged determination as they seek to capture the perfect image. And Ohio Wesleyan University student Kit Weber ’20 is no exception. 

For her recent photojournalism class, Weber tailed K-9 Officer Ollie of the Delaware Police Department and his human handler, Officer Adam Graham. 

Weber, who lives in Cincinnati, said her project included photographing Ollie, a Belgian Malinois, and Graham at both work and play. 

“I wanted to show the canine and human companionship and how important the K-9 Unit is to the police department and community,” she said. 

Weber said the class, taught by associate professor and award-winning journalist Paul Kostyu, Ph.D., pushed her outside her comfort zone because she was challenged to meet new people and ask in-depth questions. The undecided student said she now is contemplating a major in journalism. 

When Weber presented her final project in class, Officers Ollie and Graham came to campus for the event. 

Graham said he is grateful for Weber’s pictures because there are few opportunities for pictures to be taken of the K-9 Unit dogs, especially in action. He said she skillfully portrayed Ollie at both work and play. 

“At the end of the day, he’s a dog,” Graham said. “He likes to work and do his job. But for the dog, it’s a game. It’s fun for them, and that’s how you have to train these police dogs.” 

Other projects from the fall photojournalism class included: 

• “More Than Just Fires” by Pella Baker ’21, a business major from Cleveland, Ohio. Baker captured the everyday activities of the Delaware Fire Department, outside of fighting fires.
• “Relations Between OWU and Spring Street” by Spencer Pauley ’19, a journalism major from Oberlin, Ohio. Pauley captured the lives of Spring Street residents who reside on Ohio Wesleyan’s north border.
• “Stockhands Horses for Healing” by Aleksei Pavlof ’18, a journalism major from New York, New York. Pavlof took pictures at the Stockhands organization, which helps individuals with mental disabilities, addiction, and autism through this alternative type of therapy.
• “International Students Across OWU” by Reilly Wright ’20, a communication major from Delaware, Ohio. Wright captured Ohio Wesleyan’s international students participating in club sports, campus jobs, social clubs, and cultural celebrations.

Learn more about courses offered by OWU’s Department of Journalism and Communication.