Six senior students in a Craig School of Business marketing class at California State University, Fresno are working with the Claude “Pop” Laval Foundation to break the “Guinness World Records” mark for the world’s largest photo exhibition.
The goal of the six-week project is to gather 150,000 photos and display them May 15 along Fresno State’s Maple Mall (south of Satellite Student Union), said Brenda Riojas, a student in Dr. William Rice’s Marketing 188 class in strategic marketing. The record of 138,355 photos on display was set in the United Kingdom, she said.
The Fresno State exhibition’s theme is “Faces and Places of the San Joaquin Valley: Then and Now.” The students are inviting Central California residents to participate by sending printed photos by Friday, May 1. Photos will be accepted until May 13 if they are already mounted.
“We hope everyone shares in our excitement of reaching our goal of 150,000 photos,” Riojas said. “We want to claim the record right here in Fresno, California, USA.”
Photos may include general pictures shot around the San Joaquin Valley — pictures of family, friends and pets or from vacations. Photos should be printed at least 4 x 6 inches and mounted on foam board. Photos need not be framed, but framed photos will be accepted or on loan.
Photos may be dropped off at the Smittcamp Alumni House (2625 E. San Matoian Way east of Maple Ave. off Shaw); the Laval Gallery in the shopping center at Fort Washington Avenue and Friant Road or the VIP Salon in the Northwest shopping center at Herndon and Marks avenues.
The students also seek donations for the project of funds and materials such as mounting boards and double-sided tape. Riojas said surplus funds will be donated to the Laval Foundation, which is trying to preserve its namesake’s thousands of photos documenting 20th century life in the Valley.
Riojas, who is from Fresno, is working with classmates Amanda Hartley of Fresno, Kazuki Kondo and Asami Sasaki of Tokyo, Donald Heffington of Visalia and Justin Anderson of Clovis.
For more information and photo guidelines, contact Riojas at 559.360.1173 or sajoir77@csufresno.edu, or Hartley at 559.930.2423 or ahartley5@csufresno.edu.
