Despite the radical changes that digital technology has introduced to the practice of photography, Charlee Brodsky stated that the core of what she teaches today is the same as when she began teaching 30 years ago. “Photographs are portals to other worlds,” she said. “They create community in and out of the classroom.”

Brodsky, a fine art documentary photographer and professor of photography at the CMU School of Design, delivered a Dean’s Lecture on April 14.

As part of her teaching at Carnegie Mellon, Brodsky works with social service organizations to show her students how photography can be used to tell stories and make connections between people.