Nominee: Chris Pietsch

Occupation: Photojournalist at the Register Guard

Where most take shelter in their homes and watch the world turn outside, it is often the journalists who are walking straight into the storm to try and get a better picture, and Chris Pietsch is no exception. Longtime photojournalist at the Register-Guard, Chris is well-known for his powerful images and unfailing commitment to the community. Friend and former colleague Alisha Dodds gladly highlighted the neverending work Chris does to serve the area and produce superb photos that capture the spirit of any situation. Alisha says if there’s anything to take away from Chris, it’s this key: Find a job (and a community) that you love, and you won’t be able to help yourself from giving back, helping others, and being a part of history. 

• Why are you nominating this person? He’s an incredible human in a number of ways, and that was prior to a worldwide pandemic. Chris Pietsch is a photojournalist to his core—but he’s much more than that. He’s not only committed to his job (more so than any other journalist I’ve known) but he cares deeply for his community and is constantly going the extra mile to show the people of Lane County what’s going on in the area. During this pandemic, he’s been working his tail off to capture every image imaginable. From socially distant weddings and birthday parties to a series of portraits of locals wearing masks to school lunches being served and technology being distributed to students. He’s documenting history (like he always is) but he’s been very thoughtful about his approach—and has created some stunning images. He shows up EVERYWHERE and is single-handedly documenting this pandemic for our community. What makes him a hero, though, is that he’s risking his life doing all of this. As his friend, I’m allowed to say he’s part of the “at-risk” group because of his age – but he carries on. He’s a journalist in every sense of the word and he takes it seriously. 

• Is there a story that highlights this individual’s work? As one example of his heroism and commitment to this community, and to telling a story, he was furloughed for a week, but instead of taking the week to sleep in and watch Netflix or read books—he kept telling stories. Stories of his past, of major journalistic accomplishments, of what led him to journalism (all publicly on Facebook) in part to show the community he’s still here and he’s still documenting this wild event. I’ve never met anyone as committed to journalism and capturing history as Chris Pietsch. He’s a hero in an unconventional sense—but his work will make up our future history books and his efforts are nothing short of risking his life. If he stops documenting the happenings of Eugene-Springfield during a pandemic, who will do it? TV news doesn’t have quite the same approach to telling a story – and he has the uncanny ability to do so in one frame. The man is well-known in this area and for good reason.