Monica Donovan » Blog

When I was eighteen or so, my friend asked me to housesit for a couple days. Sure, no problem. While hanging around after walking the dog, bored, I was browsing her bookshelves and a particularly hefty, colorful hardcover caught my eye – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Little did I know that, once I picked it up, I wouldn’t put it down until I had finished it, and the other two Harry Potter books on her shelf. Like millions of other people, I became hopelessly addicted to the whimsical, if somewhat prosaically written, adventures of a group of young British wizards.

So, when the Journal called me with an assignment to photograph collegiate quidditch in Middlebury, I was somewhat tickled. This was actually my first go at shooting sports and I had a great time. The thing that struck me the most was how much incredibly entertaining it was – Alex Benepe played the role of head commissioner perfectly, the announcers were hilarious (I’m tempted to go back with an audio recorder), and the players played hard but with great sportsmanship. The golden snitches (in this case, players dressed in yellow with a snitch hanging off their backsides) were especially fun.

Top moments: the snitch pulling the seeker’s shirt over his head, me diving out of the way of stampedes of chasers more than once, and the snitch making off with “Gnome” Chomsky, in this case a plastic garden gnome, as the seeker chased him around the full length of the field to snarky remarks by the commentators. Probably the most fun assignment I’ve had in awhile.

So wander online, check out the excellent article by Jilian Mincer, and be sure to browse through the gallery of images or pick up a copy of today’s Journal. Happy Monday!