Photography and psychology student Morgan Barnaby interned at Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland as a part of the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism
Morgan Barnaby
By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - February 11, 2026
When the world shut down in 2020, Morgan Barnaby was stuck in her childhood bedroom in New Jersey with nowhere to go but inward. With all the time in the world, Barnaby and her mother picked up photography as something to learn together while the world felt paused.
“I basically was stuck in my room and just started taking pictures of myself,” Barnaby said, laughing.
That impulse, to make meaning out of stillness, ended up changing everything. What started as a pandemic hobby became a calling. Now a senior, double majoring in psychology and photography at the College of Liberal Arts, Barnaby is the Senior Creative Photographer for Orange Media Network and spent her summer photographing stories across Oregon as the Snowden Visual Journalism Intern with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).
At OPB, Barnaby was thrown into the fast-paced world of professional journalism. “The first two weeks, my brain felt like mush every night,” she said with a grin. “But my editor, Kris, had this wealth of knowledge. Every time we talked, I learned something new.”
The internship also gave her confidence and a taste of being a trusted team member. “At OPB, people really trusted me,” she said. “That made it so much easier to build genuine connections with the people I was photographing.”
Photography, for Barnaby, began as a bridge between her and her mother, but it’s now evolved into a way to connect with people far beyond her family.
“I get to meet people I never would have met otherwise,” she said. “It’s wild how photography creates connections, not just between me and the person I’m photographing, but between them and whoever ends up seeing the image. That connection, between subject and viewer, is what makes it powerful.”
Barnaby’s academic pairing of psychology and photography might sound unusual, but for her, they’re deeply intertwined.
“I just love the way people work,” she said. “Human brains are so interesting, and photojournalism is really about that; understanding people, empathizing with them, figuring out how to tell their story.”
That empathy often manifests in emotional moments behind the camera. “Sometimes I’m crying right alongside the person I’m photographing,” she admitted. “It’s not about being detached, it’s about feeling what they feel and showing that through the image.”
Her psychology background also informs how she approaches sensitive stories. “It helps me understand what people need from me…There’s a lot of distrust in the media right now, and part of my job is showing people that I’m there for them, not to exploit them.”
Barnaby left New Jersey craving a complete change. She applied almost exclusively to West Coast schools, and when Oregon State offered both a strong psychology program and artistic opportunities in photography and theatre, she leaped.
“OSU ended up being this perfect mix of everything I cared about. The photo program is small, but it’s full of people who’ve completely changed my life, like my mentor, Professor Kerry Skarbakka. He made me realize I could actually do art for a living.”
Alongside her photojournalism work, Barnaby’s portfolio also includes fine art photography, which showcases her creative passions. Looking ahead, Barnaby hopes to keep using her camera as a tool for both empathy and resistance.
“Photojournalism is art,” she said. “And art has power. With all the media layoffs and budget cuts happening, it feels like a fight to prove how important visual storytelling still is. I want to cover protests, social movements, anything where people are passionate and fighting for something they believe in.”
Her voice lifted as she spoke, equal parts conviction and awe. “Even if I don’t agree with what someone’s fighting for, that passion deserves to be documented. Because those are the moments that make us human.”
“I think,” she said, “that’s what photography does best. It reminds us that every person, every moment, deserves to be seen.”