The Dean's Prize for Outstanding A.L.M. Thesis in the Humanities. Harvard University Extension School June 2007. Harvard Extension School medal and a $1000 award.
Snibbe's thesis, titled "'Exploring the Border Between Form and Chaos': Photojournalism's Intersection with Latin American Magic Realist Literature in Alex Webb's Vision of the Tropics," is an investigation of the mythopoeic vision of photographer Alex Webb, whose photos of the tropics represent a mixture of magic and hyper-reality. This vision is reflected in his photography in four different ways: the juxtaposition of disparate elements found in everyday life in order to transform ordinary conceptions of emotion, temperature, scale, perspective, volume, and locality; visual transformations of conventional perceptions of time and place; the exploration of socio-political clashes within cultures and their tendency toward self-destruction; and the unsentimental treatment of death as a transformative event. The thesis was directed by John Stauffer, professor of English and American literature and language, who described it as "a breathtakingly ambitious project, … the most in-depth assessment of Webb's photography, especially his work on the tropics, that is now available. I've encouraged [Kris] to publish part of the thesis as essays, and from there [work toward a book]." Snibbe is a 1993 graduate of Boston University, with a B.S. in photojournalism. He works as a staff photographer at the Harvard News Office and graduates with a 3.66 GPA.
-Excerpt from a Harvard Extension School press release about the award.