Thomas Miller | Nov. 12, 2010
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| Photo by Scott Myrick |
| Alumnus John Gevers spent some time on campus this week overseeing installation of his part of the "Facing HIV/AIDS in the Heartland" exhibit at the IMU. He credits much of his storytelling abilities to professors at the school. |
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Gevers, BA ’89, was on campus this week to oversee the installation of his video and photography that were part of the exhibit, Facing HIV/AIDS in the Heartland, a multimedia project that examines the day-to-day lives of people living with the disease. The project was in conjunction with the display of sections of the internationally celebrated AIDS Memorial Quilt on display through Nov. 15 in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union.
As founder of New Media Brew, a Fort Wayne-based media production company, Gevers knew how to produce the video, and he’s been a photographer and reporter for many years. But he was motivated by the story and inspired by the fact that he had never met a person with AIDS. Many of the people he photographed didn’t think they had a personal story worth talking about.
“People who are living HIV are people just like us,” said Gevers, whose work for the exhibit focused on people in northeastern Indiana. “It’s human nature to downplay our own lives.”
Gevers said that multimedia Web presentations for projects like Facing HIV/AIDS in the Heartland are the future. New Media Brew emphasizes storytelling that integrates photography, writing and videography, for example. But his previous work also informs his current projects. He said his early years in corporate communications gave him experience working with different forms of media, but it was his time at IU that made him a strong storyteller.
“It was while spending a year in New Zealand in 1987 as a Rotary Scholar/Ambassador of Goodwill when my passion for photojournalism and storytelling fully developed,” Gevers said. “I give much credit to Rotary International and to IU journalism and to professors John Ahlhauser, Jon Dilts and Peter Jacobi for igniting my storytelling passion and for helping me hone my skills.”
But the learning is ongoing, he said. He recently spent 10 days with world renowned photographer Peter Turnley, also a Fort Wayne native, learning from the master. First, they bonded over growing up in Fort Wayne, then over their love for the medium.
“It was a mountain top experience,” said Gevers, BA ’89, of his experience, which was funded through an Indiana Arts Commission grant. “We’re really good friends now. There’s no pretense.”
Gevers said while the technology of storytelling may change, the ability to spot a good story and write about it remain constant. For Gevers, the good stories are the ones people don’t pay attention to.
“I’m interested in telling the stories of marginalized people,” Gevers said. “We’re all Hoosiers. Some of us are lucky enough to be healthy. Some of us have cancer and some of us have AIDS.”
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