A CELEBRATION IN PORTRAITS

Mission: Our mission is to capture and celebrate the Spirit of Tompkins County through portraits and stories – highlighting our rich culture of people and the places that are meaningful to us. 

Vision: To create a collection of stories, portraits and videos of people and their places that will highlight our diverse population and their relationships with multiple environments to foster a strong sense of community. 

Spirit of Tompkins seeks to celebrate local individuals and our diverse landscape- comprising 9 towns and a city and builds off from the very successful and well-received We Are Ithaca initiative. This project is a unique opportunity to creatively convey Tompkins County’s culture in our current time and will provide a personal glimpse into the local landscape. 

Spirit of Tompkins comprises of portraits of people, individually or as groups, in their homes, work, farms, or other meaningful places. Participants chose their own place to be photographed and each participant is asked to provide a short explanation of why they chose that place. Their words are used alongside their portraits to help tell their stories.

Spirit of Tompkins portraits appear in the online gallery where people can download a small file of their photo for free and learn more about the project. Portraits will also be on display in each community including at town halls and local libraries. A short documentary is also on the home page. A book will be produced with every portrait and available for purchase.

A major benefit of this collaborative project is that these portraits and their stories will become a visual part of Tompkins County history. This project captures local faces and meaningful places.

Spirit of Tompkins is inspired by the work of photographer Verne Morton who captured life and work in the Groton area more than a hundred years ago. His work is highlighted in the book Great Possibilities: 150 Verne Morton Photographs.

The project is a collaboration of The Discovery Trail, the Town of Ithaca (celebrating its bicentennial in 2021) and Photographer/project director Robyn Wishna. This partnership seeks to work with individuals to create a snapshot of our current time and place. We have been funded by the Town of Ithaca, grants from Jon Jensen (through the Community Foundation), Humanities New York, Tompkins Community Bank, The Aneja family, Ithaca College Center for Print Production and Warren Real Estate.

These aren’t just photos of people but a collection stories about a shared place. These images and stories aim to remind us of the connections between people and their places; helping us celebrate our daily lives in this unique county. This project enlists the participation of community members in each town and is something that we can use to showcase many of the parts of our county- wide community.

This is an opportunity to bring everyone together and leave something meaningful behind.