First Person NCPR - North Country Public Radio

On the premiere edition of First Person, we meet Troy photographer Justin Baker and learn about his unusual techniques and why he loves expired film. Plus, writer Chanelle Benz talks about her acclaimed novel, "The Gone Dead," we’ll hear the story that won the Howl Grand Slam, and find out why the renovations to St. Lawrence University’s Appleton Arena are a big deal to the women’s and men’s hockey teams there.

If you have a phone in your pocket, you also have ready access to an art gallery. Many of us have hundreds - or thousands - of photos on our phone’s camera roll, and we look at many more on Instagram, Facebook, or other social media.

But if you stop by the Courthouse Gallery in Lake George between now and late February, you’ll have a chance to see some art that might make you stop and consider just what makes a photograph.

Writer Chanelle Benz earned her Upstate street cred, receiving her M.F.A. in Creative Writing in Syracuse. But she now lives in Memphis, and her recent novel, "The Gone Dead," conjures up a setting - the Mississippi Delta - that is anything but cold and snowy.

We hear the story that won the 2019 Howl Grand Slam, held in December at St. Lawrence University’s Gulick Theatre.

It’s told by Aaron Todd of Canton, who also shared what inspired his to tell that particular story.

When the St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team faces off against Clarkson in a Saturday afternoon game, it will mark the much-anticipated opening of the SLU’s renovated Appleton Arena. Construction has been underway for months at the 69-year old facility, bringing it up-to-date and in line with other Division 1 college hockey arenas.