by Sara Martinell
Contributing Writer

In a cozy office in the Communications Building sits Jane
Winslow: photographer, professor, globetrotter and
opera singer. The SCC Video Production instructor,
who has a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance and
a Master’s degree in Mass Communication. She express-
es her creativity in any way she can. She travels around
the world frequently, documenting landscapes and cul-
tures that most people will never witness.

With her digital camera in hand, she snapped a photo of a
pre-adolescent Tibetan monk lifting his deep red robes slightly as he walks, revealing shiny new tennis shoes. The photo hangs on her office wall along with Tibetan prayer flags and a large black and white poster of “Thelma and Louise” the size of a small table.

Last year, Winslow trekked through the Chinese province of Yunnan, fending off landslides in an area known as Tiger Leaping Gorge.

One time, while roaming through the streets of Yalta, a Ukrainian city on the coast of the Black Sea, Winslow spotted a cathedral that she wanted to photograph. However, one problem loomed in front of her: all women who wanted to enter the cathedral were required to have their heads covered. The only spare piece of clothing she had on was a forest green REI raincoat, which she tied around her head.

“I don’t think anyone noticed. The cathedral was so crowded.” she says, laughing.

Winslow funds such trips through the frequent flier miles that she racked up as a professional trainer for high-end broadcasting corporations like the BBC. The rest, she says, comes from her adamant financial savings— solely for the purpose of traveling.

“The more I see, the longer my travel list becomes for places I want to go.” says Winslow, adding that she often holds a strong desire to revisit an area after she leaves it.

In addition to her love for photographing the people and places she meets on her travels, Winslow enjoys teaching women’s issues workshops as well as video production classes, which is her main focus at SCC right now.

“I enjoy the heck out of teaching.” Winslow divulges with a grin.

With all the joys that Winslow experienced in her teaching career, there have also been some major disappointments. The most significant and common one has been lack of enthusiasm in a few of the classes she taught. Winslow, who describes teaching as a joy, says that it’s extremely discouraging as a teacher to hear students ask, “How can I get a good grade?” rather than having a general excitement for the subject.

“It’s like pulling a car with brakes on through the sand,” Winslow notes.

Despite a few disappointments in her teaching career, Winslow continues to hold a passion for life. She recently channeled her creative energy into submitting some of her photography to the Art Xchange in downtown Seattle, and was shocked when her photos were accepted.

There, among the work of artists from all over the world, are photos that, like Winslow, open up doors—doors through which views of faraway lands and cultures that can be witnessed by those of us who could—but will probably never see.