Conor Mullen applied for the Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship six times before he received it in 2020. When he finally got it, he used it to document something none of us saw coming: the impact of COVID-19 on the Greater Yellowstone Area. His powerful images captured empty lodge lobbies, covered dioramas, and outdoor graduations—visual stories that deserve to be preserved for future generations.
But what happens to student photographers’ work after their fellowship ends? In spring 2025, we worked with the American Heritage Center to help reestablish a mutually beneficial connection between the AHC and the University of Wyoming’s Communication & Journalism (COJO).
As part of the English Department’s inaugural PhD in Public Humanities program, this work was completed for Dr. Nancy Small’s course, Qualitative Methods for Public Humanities. This project focused on qualitative research methods that emphasize community partnerships and relational research. Dr. Small collaborated with University Archivist John Waggener to reestablish relationships with various departments on campus in order to encourage regular departmental donations to the University of Wyoming archives in order to have a rich history of UW history for future researchers.
In an effort to bolster the relationship between the AHC and COJO, we met with several valued faculty members including Justin Stewart, Dr. Shane Epping, and Dr. Cindy Price Schulz. We specifically discussed the Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship and explored how a partnership with the AHC could enhance the visibility of fellows’ work through a dedicated gallery space, while also preserving their contributions in the archive for future researchers and community members.
The Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship provides a $5,500 stipend for University of Wyoming students to showcase strong visual storytelling. Named after UW journalism graduate Larsh Bristol, who died in 2006, the fellowship has supported young Wyoming photojournalists for more than a decade. Bristol was an award-winning photographer who specialized in nature, agriculture and commercial fishing, noted for his photographic portrayals of human emotion. The fellowship was established in 2008 to commemorate his life, work and vision.
You can view past fellows here, many of whom have continued into established careers in photography, photojournalism, and storytelling. Conor Mullen is one fellow who continues to visually tell the stories of Wyoming.
Conor applied for the Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship six times before he received it in 2020. He was funded to document the impact of COVID-19 on the Greater Yellowstone Area; he captured communities, businesses, and the national parks. Due to the pandemic, his work was showcased during an online webinar and in a one night physical exhibition in UW’s Coe Library. Conor noted the importance of gallery exhibitions for emerging photographers and emphasized the importance of archiving his work for future generations to understand the pandemic’s effects in northwest Wyoming.
One of our group members, Aubrey Edwards, had the pleasure of speaking with Conor about his Larsh Bristol award and his present work in visual storytelling. Below you will find excerpts from our interview and images from his project Covid 19 + GYE.
Conor: We weren’t really sure the extent of the pandemic, its impacts on people, industry, businesses, travel, etc. So, when I applied, it was kind of a big question mark. But as I started documenting that summer and going into the fall, I was taking photos of national park facilities, small businesses, tourist attractions, sites for recreation around different communities in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. So everywhere from Gardiner, Montana, to Cody to Jackson to Lander, really focusing on the route of travel that tourists use to make their way through Wyoming to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Without the grant, I would not have, and could not have, pulled off the project.
Rafe Rives, owner of Cane Water Family Farm, sells produce grown in the Teton Valley at an outdoor farmers market held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming during the summer of 2020. Agriculture and small businesses encountered hurdles and smaller profits due to the pandemic’s impacts on economies of all scales. © Conor Mullen
Conor: As time goes on, I think people are going to look back with an interest in what life was like in 2020. Photos are a good way to do that. The photos I took in 2020 can help to communicate what things were like for that part of the state, that part of the world. Yellowstone and Grand Teton see around 3 or 4 million people every year from all over the globe. To see photos from the national parks during that time is to see the pandemic’s impacts on an international venue. I find some meaning in knowing that people could access those photos through the AHC archive.
An outdoor graduation stage awaits the class of 2020 in Thermopolis, Wyoming. The town gathered on sidewalks and in parks to celebrate young graduates along a parade route ahead of their ceremony in the spring of that year. © Conor Mullen
Conor: I think you never know what can happen with a show. Somebody might come to your reception, or somebody might wander into the gallery when you’re not there and see your work. If they like your work, you might make a sale, or you might make a connection, which could lead to the next project.
By listening to Conor Mullen, John Waggener, and COJO faculty, our team recognized the incredible role that the American Heritage Center and the Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship play in preserving and amplifying western narratives. In bridging the pre-existing relational gap between COJO and the AHC, student fellowship work—such as Mullen’s documentation of the pandemic in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—will receive the visibility and archival care it deserves.
Through continued collaboration into the future, the AHC, COJO, and the Larsh Bristol fellows will remain incredible stewards of Wyoming visual narratives and history.
Post contributed by: Aubrey Edwards, Shelby Hutson, Chloé Flagg.
Sources
COJO. The Larsh Bristol Photojournalism Fellowship. https://www.uwyo.edu/cojo/larsh-bristol/index.html. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.
Mullen, Conor. Aubrey Edwards Interviews Conor Mullen. 22 Apr. 2025.