Corvallis Cosmetology Feature- Brenna Murphy

Brenna Murphy

Brenna Murphy, 28, is a local resident to Corvallis who works as a hairstylist at Epic Day Spa & Salon, downtown Corvallis on 2nd St. She has been working in the cosmetology industry for almost 10 years, having begun her training at Aveda Institute of Portland. Having recently returned to Epic after teaching at the Aveda Institute of Portland, she has now been with Epic for about 5 years in total. She is a fully licensed cosmetologist which includes esthetics, nails and hair but she is primarily focused on hairstyling.

As a passionate, creative individual herself, she was able to find an outlet for expression and talent early on.  One of the best parts of being in this industry is that "it truly encourages and supports continuing education. As professionals we are always learning new tricks, skills and deepening our inspirations so that we can accommodate our customers unique style demands."

Forum 5

"It's What I Do" - Lynsey Addario

The sights she is able to see and capture are really rare to the average human eye. Traveling through the desert without enough water when they knew they had left canteens in their truck, arriving at their destination only to be greeted by brutally beaten women, willing and grateful to tell their stories of grief and massacre, a city with a woman with the only pot in the community, and a living toilet along the outskirts in the shade- most wouldn't dare to get their mind so opened to the human experiences, but she admirably jumps right in alongside the soldiers, the women, and alone.

Lynsey's adventures through life behind the camera, to me, hold such a potent energy of raw, feminine, curiosity and independence. Her ability to shape shift into an effective energy in different situations, seems to be one of her most influential skills aside from her photography presence. When they were traveling to Fallujah and they were stopped and taken as prisoners, she was able to use her stereotyped femininity of "concerned and fearful" to her groups advantage. Changing her attire based on the situations also seem to be a proper way to move about more comfortably and wisely. Luckily she had worn her abaya on their travels that day so she could hide their American passports in her underwear easily.

I enjoyed the photos in this section of the bit more than the others. They seem to hold a deeper potency, perhaps she is more comfortable behind her camera now, able to step into the peoples groups with more of a sense of purpose. At one point she comments about how people in the states had started offering her money for her photos, and how this originally confused her, making her second guess her final decision. I think her move towards evaluating her purpose behind revealing her photos, and finalizing on that if selling them means they will reach more peoples minds, it was worth it simply for the educational factor. This decisive moment seems to have contributed to the quality of content in she pushed herself to capture.

I would say that her ability to deepen her purpose and push passed the differences in poverty between herself and those she is photographing, is something that is a good lessen for people who truly are wanting to educate the population at large and contribute to greater awareness of life.  I also feel that her ability to utilize her "place as a woman" to benefit her groups and help the men in her clan relate to the soldiers and natives to the land they may be in, is also an important skill. It seems to be a much more grounded way to work, and necessary for her own survival as well. Constantly overcoming fears.

Her personal sacrifices are time spent with family and being able to show up for "important" life moments for them and friends, and love in a stable relationship. I honestly have kind of struggled with this state of mind - impermanence in exchange for purpose and involvement- for a quite a few years. It's definitely a hard decision to make, and I think it takes not acting on our emotions as much as we think is proper or reasonable. I think that I would definitely take the opportunity to do so if it felt right, though it would definitely be a larger risk than if I was in a state of single, independence.

"He knew that I knew. And he and I both knew I no longer cared." pg. 106
I like this quote because it perfectly captures a catalyzing moment between lovers when they finally allow themselves to simply be intuitional and allow the natural course of their experience together run it's course.

Tips I could take for my photojournalism: take the opportunities, work with your team and comrades, know when to let lose, but also be daring. Grow with the camera, don't hide behind it.

Starker Arts Park Wetland Rehabilitation

Starker Arts Park Wetland Rehabilitation 

On the sunny Saturday of October 26th, about 85 people gathered between 1 and 4 pm to get their hands dirty, learn about one of our community areas environmental struggles, and put in some volunteer time to rehabilitate the Starker Arts Wetland. 

Why not “restoring”?

"Restore means to return something to the way it was. The truth is we don’t know the way it was. . . To regenerate is to generate life. To rehabilitate is to raise something up; to resurrect things.“-Dave Eckert sets the ground during the introduction to our day.

(from left) Dave Eckert- Corvallis Sustainability Coalition-Water Action Team, Annette Mills- Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, Kathleen Wesly - Marys River Watershed Council

Dave and Kathleen discuss how this particular area has been impacted and managed by humans for at least 16000 years, and that part of why restoration can be difficult is because of the time frame. Depending on which point in time you go to you, the restoration will be different. Human impact is important, especially because as we like to manage things, and this management changes natural environments so significantly that much of the time it is hard to, or takes much longer, to rehabilitate an area to its original structure. 

Cat Newsheller- Recently began volunteering on the projects and is a certified interpretive guide. She is also an Oregon Naturalist graduate.

What has been occurring in Starker Arts Park is that the pond, with ducks, has been carrying the runoff containing extra Nitrogen and Phosphorous from the duck waste,into the Denewi Creek running through the park. The extra amount of nutrients results in a process called Eutrophication, where the algae that feeds off the nutrients, grows exponentially, goes through natural life cycles of life and death, leaving the decaying algae at the bottom of the creek to be decomposed. As with any respiration activity, decomposition occurs by the bacteria within the Denewi Creek, using up more oxygen than normal, eventually leading to a less than hospitable place for previous plants and animals of the ecosystem. (The pond is currently under construction to help re-balance the output of water). 

How is the wetland rehabilitation going to help with the Creek water? 

The wetland will be acting as a filtration system between the pond and the creek. 

The wetlands physical set up is like a mini version of vast rolling hills and valleys, originating from the output pipes of the pond. The swales (valleys) go out in all directions from the output point which will help evenly spread out the water, creating a wetland. 

Previous to construction on the pond and the wetland area it was filled with primarily invasive exotic plants. Dave gave us some back story after explaining the water changes regarding what the outcome of the wetland area was:

“We dug them up, saved the natives, didn’t save the exotic. Before we put down the jute (the covering) we put down a lot of Camis seeds which is a critical,cultural and nutritional plant to the Calapooia, and a whole bunch of other flowering plants that work in wet areas.And then we have a berm, which is a cultural feature, which on another day we will plant large shrubs -all native, all many different species and very beneficial for pollinators and other species including humans.Red flowering Currant, Elderberry, Espiria, Snowberry. . .”

Jim Boyle- Long time, experienced volunteer who recently was working on the Denewi Creek route rehabilitation on Bald Hill 

There were a number of different groups who attended the event including Corvallis Youth Corps, different clubs from Oregon State Environmental Science Club,Members of the Corvallis Watershed Council,the City of Corvallis and a handful from the general public.

Lynne Warwick- Working with the city for 2 years

In an upcoming volunteer project on Saturday, November 9th at Bald Hill in Corvallis, Dave says that they will be focusing on returning Denewi Creek to its original course. Over the years of people managing the land for agriculture and living, the original creeks movement was buried and changed entirely. Denewi is a Calapooia word meaning “Elderly, Wise Woman”. The Calapooia tribe were the first people to settle in the Willamette Valley.