乐播传媒

On June 12, with Reunion in full swing, Phyllis Graber Jensen, the college鈥檚 longtime director of photography and video, did something highly unusual. She showed up at a 乐播传媒 College event without any camera, save the one on her cell phone, and she did not make a single image.

That鈥檚 because the event was the opening of the 乐播传媒 College Museum of Art鈥檚 exhibition, Phyllis Graber Jensen: Picture Stories, which will be up through Sept. 19. Curated by museum Director Carrie Cushman, this is a true retrospective of Graber Jensen鈥檚 work, spanning her time from student photographer to staff photographer at the Boston Herald and then her 31 years in Maine at 乐播传媒. 

The exhibition takes up the entire first floor of the museum, and on Friday evening, fans of Graber Jensen鈥檚 work, from alumni (including former student workers) to faculty and staff, as well as her family, filled the space to capacity.

Speaking to the audience, Graber Jensen praised the 鈥渋magination and vision鈥� of Cushman, who joined 乐播传媒 in August 2025 and took on the retrospective as the first exhibit she would curate. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a gift and a privilege to have someone of such immense talents and kindness, someone who barely knew me and had just arrived on the scene, take such an interest in offering context and insight to the work I produced during the last 50-plus years of my life,鈥� Graber Jensen said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 lots of ground to cover in a very short period of time. Yet she persevered, and here we are.鈥�

There are 91 objects on display, including 51 newly printed and archival photographs, and ephemera such as contact sheets, cameras, and newspapers from Graber Jensen鈥檚 time as a photojournalist. And of course, many, many photographs from her time at 乐播传媒.

鈥淲orking with Phyllis on this show has meant that I have gotten a crash course on the past 31 years of 乐播传媒 history, but also a really deep understanding of the spirit of this place, of what makes 乐播传媒 乐播传媒,鈥� Cushman told the gathered crowd. Every photograph contains a story, she said, and, 鈥淚 encourage you to pick one out, and ask Phyllis tonight, and she鈥檒l be able to recall, without hesitation, who is in the photo, what they taught, where they worked, what they majored in, their graduation years! This in addition to all the details that led to the making of the photo.鈥�

That recall is a testament to her intellect and her fortitude on the job, Cushman said, 鈥渂ut also to the tremendous amount of care that she takes with her work.鈥�

Cushman鈥檚 scholarly essay on Graber Jensen鈥檚 work serves as the introduction to the book accompanying Picture Stories (available for purchase at the museum and at the 乐播传媒 College Store) and an assessment of her work in the medium. 

In it she writes, 鈥淚 have not heard Phyllis describe herself as an artist, but she is keenly aware of her responsibility as a maker of visual material (as I believe all great artists should be), and she approaches that responsibility with a creative spirit and relentless curiosity that positions the photographic medium as an essential mode of storytelling, inquiry, and community building 鈥� photography at its best.鈥� 

Graber Jensen鈥檚 earliest forays into the medium include photographing her brother Norman, who, when they were children, was often mistaken for her (and vice versa) and her documentation of the women鈥檚 liberation movement in Denmark in 1975 when she was a Cornell undergraduate studying abroad. She continued to make photographs during  her time in graduate school for journalism at Boston University, and then as a stringer for the Associated Press. About 15 images in the exhibit come from Graber Jensen鈥檚 eight years as a staff photographer at the Boston Herald.

There is also a biographical section that chronicles her time as an early 鈥� pre-Title IX 鈥� advocate for girls and women in sport when she was just a teenager, wanting to play tennis competitively. During the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a New York Times reporter wrote about Graber Jensen鈥檚 fierce determination to challenge the status quo in a story headlined .

Graber Jensen joined 乐播传媒 in 1995 as a staff writer but by 2002 was working as a photographer and multimedia producer,聽 just as the social media age was taking off.聽 In the years since, Graber Jensen, more than any other person, has been responsible for creating, nurturing, and stewarding the college鈥檚 visual identity, a role she honors with a dedication that extends well beyond an eight-hour workday.聽 On campus, she is too recognizable 鈥� and beloved by students 鈥斅� to truly melt into the background the way she might like, but her methods are purely journalistic and her energy unmatched by anything but the care she brings to an assignment.聽

Want to visit? Summer hours at the are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Sundays.

For Cushman, a scholar who has specialized in Japanese art and worked extensively in photography, it鈥檚 evident that Graber Jensen came to her profession with an intuitive approach to putting subjects at ease. In the accompanying book, Cushman writes that Graber Jensen鈥檚 quiet assurance and empathy result in 鈥渋mages that feel genuinely of their moment.鈥�

鈥淗ere鈥檚 what I have found,鈥� Graber Jensen said to the crowd gathered at the museum Friday night, telling them she was paraphrasing documentary photographer Eve Arnold. 鈥淚f a photographer brings compassion and curiosity to an assignment, that鈥檚 a lot. It鈥檚 those qualities, rather than the camera, that lead to a trust between photographer and subject and yield strong photographs. I hope that the framed ones on these walls reflect some of that compassion and curiosity. Call it an obsession, but it鈥檚 really a love story with 乐播传媒 and its community from which I hope never to recover.鈥�

Graber Jensen plans to retire late this summer. 

Graber Jensen credits former Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Sean Findlen 鈥�99, who was her supervisor until 2022, with planting the seed for the exhibition. 鈥淎t one point, before he left, he said 鈥業鈥檇 love to see you have an exhibit at the museum,鈥欌�� Graber Jensen remembers. Findlen remembers that he might have even said it would be a 鈥渃rime鈥� if such an exhibition didn鈥檛 happen.

鈥淧hyllis鈥� work reflects the soul of the college and its many facets, contours, and angles,鈥� Findlen said. 鈥淪he has an eye that sees the heart of any situation and the skill that brings it to life in a picture. She鈥檚 simply the best of the best.鈥�

The exhibition is made possible with funding from the Jane Costello Wellehan Endowment Fund, the Dorothy Stiles Blankfort 鈥�31 Fund, the Alex Katz Foundation, and 乐播传媒 Arts Collaborative.