Students posed in front of the camera at the Center for the Arts (CFA) media room, taking photos in front of a white backdrop. Some decided to use the stool provided to them, while others used their own artistic interpretation to frame their picture.
The photoshoot was one of the first official events for the 411 Club, UB’s newest editorial magazine.
The magazine is meant to promote different forms of the arts to UB students and the greater Buffalo community. The club has yet to publish anything, but the plan is to have the first issue out in the near future. The 411 Club features multiple desks — ranging from journalism to video and photography — allowing students to pursue their favorite form of art.
UB has had campus magazines in the past — like the UBtoday, published by the University at Buffalo Alumni Association before being discontinued after the fall of 2013 — but none follow the vision that the 411 Club has for its publication.
It’s fitting that one of the club’s first official events is a photoshoot, as the idea for the magazine started with club president and co-founder Tasnim Daouaou’s desire to have a photo booth on campus.
“I wanted to have a photo booth at [the Student Union] and take pictures and put it in a magazine, and that became my baby,” Daouaou, a sophomore psychology major, said. “Then it actually became real, and I started reaching out to advisors and stuff.”
Daouaou wasn’t alone in her push to create the 411 Club — her friends shared a similar passion for the arts and helped make the group a reality. Now that it’s official, their priority has shifted to getting more students involved.
“The first issue, the way we’re doing it is just to get our name out there,” Sean Cadd, the club’s secretary and a sophomore history education major, said. “If we keep doing zines and the big issues, then I feel like the larger prints we do will have more connections to UB.”
In the club’s short existence, its members’ goals have shifted dramatically from putting a photo booth in SU to growing attendance for the new magazine at every meeting.
The magazine wants to still be involved with UB students, but there are plans to move off campus in order to reach more of Buffalo.
“Even if we’re off campus, a lot of the places we’re gonna shoot are very significant to Buffalo, like we were talking about doing a skate shoot downtown,” Cadd said. “Before the end of the semester, I assume we’re gonna grow. Buffalo State’s right here, Daemen’s right here. If other students [from other schools] hear about this and want to take part in it, I would say they’re welcome to.”
That openness has helped spark the growing number of members, fielding over 20 members at the first meeting, and the 411 Club’s founders hope that it can be a fun outlet for students to express themselves and share their art.
“Any student can join,” Daouaou said. “I’d love for the magazine to be something that symbolizes and welcomes diversity. Just a whole collage of different people and different aesthetics and different interests coming together.”
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at henry.daley@ubspectrum.com
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. His work has featured on other platforms such as Medium and Last Word on Sports. Outside of the newspaper, he enjoys running and watching sports (when he’s not writing about them).
