18
FALL 2012 | St. Lawrence University Magazine
Taking in the
big picture
“
At St. Lawrence, I was able to pursue the
two things I love most: politics and pho-
tography,” says Veronika Horvathova ’12.
Her ambition has led her to present research
at one of the largest international media
conferences in the world, mount her own art
exhibition and launch a dream career.
The Bratislava, Slovakia, native and
government major was enthralled with
her junior research seminar with Assistant
Professor of Government Shelly McConnell,
sparking her interest in global transitions to
democracy. Her complex research for the
course contrasted the way Radio Free
Europe and the leading communist
government newspaper in Czechoslo-
vakia covered Poland’s first democratic
elections, which helped inspire other
Eastern European countries to attempt
democracy. Horvathova went to great
lengths to do her research, including
spending Thanksgiving break at Stan-
ford University collecting material.
With McConnell’s encouragement,
she submitted her research to present at
the International Association for Media
and Communication Research (IAMCR)
Conference in Istanbul in 2011. She was the
only undergraduate selected.
The Davis UnitedWorld Colleges Scholar
also spent time off-campus in the Univer-
sity’s Francophone andWashington, D.C.,
programs. The little things she sees in her
travels have inspired her photography.
“
I’m not one you’ll find taking pictures of
monuments,” she says. “I want to capture
cultures and differences. The people of
the world and their natural surroundings
fascinate me.”
At age 10, Horvathova started working
with her uncle’s old cameras and “old-fash-
ioned technology.” Her goal is to take great
photos by adjusting settings, lighting and
lenses, rather than make good photos altered
by software programs like Photoshop.
“
I’d rather capture the beauty of the world
unaltered,” she says.
That philosophy earned her a solo show,
“
Beauty in Detail: Art inTravel,” in the
University’s Richard F. Brush Art Gallery in
2011.
“
In well over a decade, Veronika has been
one of only a handful of students outside of
the arts to propose a full exhibition of pho-
tographs,” notes Catherine Tedford, director
of the gallery.
Her work is now prominently featured in
a café in her hometown. “I wanted my art to
be where people could enjoy it,” she says.
Horvathova returned to Slovakia in
December 2011 and completed her degree
from there while she started working as
a media researcher/analyst at the South
Korean Embassy in Slovakia.
“
I can’t imagine a more perfect job that al-
lows me to work with the most exciting and
powerful political people in my country,”
she says. “I’m honored.”
Bratislava is now more than a hometown
for Horvathova. It’s a place where she is able
to share her two passions with the world.
Veronika Horvathova ’12
LAURENTIAN PORTRAIT
by Meg Bernier ’07, M’09
Director of Corporate and Foundation
Relations Devon Murphy Stein
contributed to this article.
At St. Lawrence, I was
able to pursue the two
things I love most: politics
and photography.
photo provided