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QuickTake:
University of Oregon graduate Isaac Wasserman joins Lookout Eugene-Springfield as a Report for America fellow and our staff photojournalist.
One of my earliest memories of a newspaper was sitting in the darkroom of The Daily Review in Towanda, Pennsylvania.
I don’t remember how old I was – it was definitely single digits. My uncle, John Thomas, was the paper’s photographer, and he showed me the darkroom during a summer visit.
It sat at the top of a staircase, barely larger than a closet. The enlarger was on one side and the developing trays on the other. It wasn’t much, but it made an impression.
The first thing I did at a newspaper was take photographs for the Sneakers page at the Elmira Star-Gazette. I used a Pentax K1000, which I borrowed from my high school. I wanted to be like my uncle, and I loved being in a darkroom.
It got me started in this business and gave me an appreciation for visual journalism that sticks with me to this day.
But why this story, right now?
Because today, I get to introduce you to Isaac Wasserman, Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s photojournalist and a Report for America fellow.
Isaac is a graduate of the University of Oregon, where he was a photographer for Flux Magazine. He also was a sports and studio photographer with Eric Evans Photography in Eugene. In addition, he completed an internship at Wisconsin Watch and was a Snowden intern at the Malheur Enterprise in Vale, Oregon.
“I started my journalism career at the University of Oregon, and fell in love with the Eugene-Springfield community through photographing it. I strongly believe in the power of visual journalism to celebrate, advocate for, and inform the community,” Isaac told us as he applied. “It is an honor to return to the Willamette Valley as a photojournalist with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. I can’t wait to bring high-quality, accurate and beautiful storytelling to this place we all call home.”
Isaac started just in time to head to the Oregon Country Fair last weekend. See all his photos here, gloriously capturing the color-laden event.
We still have a couple more positions to fill, including our Ducks reporter, so stay tuned for those announcements soon.
Become a member
Lookout Eugene-Springfield has been live for a little more than three months, and our membership continues to grow, hitting 1,250 this week!
That’s a huge number, exceeding the goals we had when we launched. We’ve emphasized that our journalism is possible because of this support. We are incredibly grateful. Literally: Your membership dollars help pay this brand-new, energetic team of journalists. Our team of 16 makes us the second-largest local newsroom in the state.
Thank you to everyone for supporting Lookout Eugene-Springfield.
For those of you who have been reading, but who haven’t taken the step to become a member, now is a good time, as the free introductory period, made possible by our Founding Marketing Partners, is coming to an end.
Don’t miss a word, or the dozens of stories we report each week.
Help spread the Lookout word
We continue to grow our audience every day, and that continued last week as we hit another milestone for readership. But still, I meet people every week who have not heard about Lookout Eugene-Springfield.
Here’s how you can help spread the word about Lookout.
Share our emails: If you subscribe to Morning Lookout, PM Lookout or any of our Neighborhood Newsletters, forward them to your friends.
Encourage them to sign up for our newsletters: Every Lookout Eugene-Springfield newsletter is free and a great way to get to know the journalism our correspondents produce. Send them this link and encourage them to sign up and see for themselves.
Follow up on social media, then like, comment and share our posts: We are on all the major platforms: Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky and LinkedIn. Each time you interact with us, it helps our posts surface to more users, and sharing a post amplifies it even more.
ICYMI
One of the most enjoyable parts of moving to a new community is getting to view what locals might consider routine or normal with fresh eyes.
That happened this weekend when our arts and culture correspondent Annie Aguiar went to the Oregon Country Fair. She captured those feelings in this compelling first-person piece from Veneta. Annie, Vanessa Salvia and Isaac Wasserman were at the fair every day, providing a look at the uniquely Oregon event.
Vanessa also took a look at new recycling rules that went into effect in the state July 1 and what they mean locally.
Jaime Adame continues to work the justice beat with multiple stories, including what guidance Eugene Police officers are given regarding protests against ICE, how police used license plate readers to catch a Wisconsin murder suspect, and how the threat of removing birthright citizenship is hitting home in Lane County.
And our Springfield correspondent Lillian Schrock-Clevenger is working hard to cover the city with the latest on an arrest in a series of broken windows in downtown businesses and city council’s plans to revisit a program that allows people to live in RVs on private property.
Come visit us
If you didn’t already know, the Lookout Eugene-Springfield offices on Willamette Street back up to the Farmers Market Pavilion. We are using that space as a chance to meet with you, answer any questions you might have about Lookout and learn what stories you think we should cover.
Each Saturday, we will have a table set up behind our office so you can sit and chat with us. You should be able to spot us by the big orange umbrella we use to offer a little bit of shade.
There will be a Lookout correspondent there each week for a few hours – unless news breaks, of course – to talk with you.
So come sit a spell and tell us more about what’s important to you.
Here are the correspondents who will be on hand to talk during the next few weeks:
- July 19: Annie Aguiar (arts and culture)
- July 26: Jasmine Saboorian (Snowden intern)
- Aug. 2: Lilly St. Angelo (education and children)
- Aug. 9: Vanessa Salvia (food and dining).
We are also scheduling weekly Lookout Listens sessions for the rest of the summer, where we meet with individuals across the community to discuss issues we should cover. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here.
