Created by Stephan Savoia to inspire impactful photography for the compelling telling of stories.
f4 & See It Foundation
Mission
The mission of the f4 & See It Foundation is to educate,
exhibit, and inspire communities through empathetic photojournalism and
documentary photography.
Our vision is to build a platform for reported images,
photography paired with the stories behind it, that moves beyond archival worth
toward visual storytelling with conviction.
Catching Up — Stephan Savoia laughs as he talks on the phone while reconnecting with an old friend. After many months of work, Stephan can relax a bit as he hangs the inaugural show, “f4 & See It: A Lifetime of Photojournalism,” in the Gibson Gallery at his alma mater, SUNY Potsdam. Thanks to the support of many family and friends. July 6th, 2026 (Photo by Stan Alost)
The f4 & See It Foundation is raising funds to produce, print, frame, and tour
an inaugural gallery titled “A Lifetime of Photojournalism” to museums and public
venues across the United States. Your tax-deductible gift of $50 or more will help the Foundation
preserve Stephan Savoia’s work and advance his vision for photojournalism and documentary photography.
Stephan Savoia coined “f4 and See It” as a play on a long-time news photography adage,
“f8 and be there.” The rephrasing represents forethought, patience, and a
cognitive-emotional awareness of the story playing out in front of a photographer’s camera.
This approach to photography encourages anticipation of decisive moments while crafting images with
purpose beyond their archival worth.
The Foundation presents a selection of images from the inaugural gallery
titled “A Lifetime of Photojournalism” that reflects more than four decades of work documenting human
experiences and emotions.
Dressing Up — Surrounded by her dolls, Katie Wood, an eight-year-old member of an all boys pee-wee football team, dons her shoulder pads in her bedroom before leaving home for practice in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Katie is the only girl playing in an all-boys league. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana Sunday Advocate Magazine on December 3, 1989
In Flight — United States platform diver Michele Mitchell glides through the air toward the diving pool’s water 10 meter below during the Nation Sports Festival VI held at the Louisiana State University’s newly constructed natatorium on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa July-August 1985
#11
Still Peddling — George Swope, 80, sits alongside his 1952 silver camping trailer he calls home, with his bicycles nearby, in Rocheport, Missouri during the summer of 1978. For 50 years Swope rode his old Schwinn bicycle throughout the Midwest and West working as a itinerant migrant farm worker. “I had plenty of nerve and I ain’t afraid of noth’in,” he says about his time peddling his bicycle to and from places like Montana, Minnesota and Kansas. His bicycles remain his only mode of transportation. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published In The Columbia Missourian
#12
In Celebration of Animals — Franciscan priest, Reverend Father Charles Potocki, snuggles with a puppy after celebrating Mass outside of Saint Paschal Catholic Church in West Monroe, Louisiana on the Feast of Saint Anthony of Assisi, October 4, 1981. St Anthony of Assisi is recognized as the Patron Saint of Animals and Ecology. Father Potocki asked is parishioners to bring their pets to Sunday Mass so that he may bless them in the name of St Anthony. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe Louisiana News-Star-World Circa Early 1980s
Where There Is Smoke… There Is No Fire — Students at Glen Oaks Park Elementary School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana are evacuated as part of a fire drill in which local firefighters filled the hallways with smoke simulating the circumstances of a real fire evacuation. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa Mid 1980s
A Mother's Tragedy — Barbara McMillan, the grief stricken mother of Lanita McMillan Mitchell, 25, falls into the arms of loved-ones upon arriving outside her daughter’s home to learn her child had died. McMillan Mitchell was fatally shoot and killed by her estranged husband in Monroe, Louisiana. Mitchell’s killer was booked and charged with second degree murder. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe Louisiana New-Star-World Circa 1981
Identiciales — Sixty-seven year old identical twin sisters Dorothy, left, and Doris Barron sit on the porch of their remote ninety-year-old farmhouse where they live with their mother Mary, 91, Dorothy’s daughter Jolene, 37, a 30 year-old cow named “Beggar” and their dog “Spuds.” The women are self-sufficient, drawing water from a nearby stream, growing their own vegetables, raising their own chickens, chopping their own firewood and milking their own goats. The home was built by Dorothy and Doris’ grandfather in 1900 on a hill just north of Pollock, Louisiana in the Kisatchie National Forest. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate on August 6, 1990
Wheelchair Crash — Chris Green, 9, at right, of the Northeast Louisiana Cerebral Palsy Flyers, is pushed by his runner, Yolanda Davis, as they head toward a first place win in the 25 meter wheelchair dash at the Region 9-A Special Olympics in Monroe, Louisiana on Saturday April 4, 1982. Also of the Flyers team, runner Elise Stark, 19, topples head-over-wheelchair as she competes with her sister Judy Stark. Judy fell out of her chair before the Starks righted themselves and completed the race. Except for a few scratches neither sister was injured and both were proud and happy to have competed. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe Louisiana News-Star-World
Showing Off — Rougon High School senior Mickey Tunstall shows off his biceps for two impressionable underclass coeds in a hallway of their high school in Rougon, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana Sunday Advocate Magazine
#28
Silent Protest — Representative Kip Holden, Democrat Baton Rouge, leader of the Black Caucus in the Louisiana House of Representatives stands with his back turned away from the chamber's rostrum in protest of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard and newly elected representative to the Louisiana House of Representatives, Republican David Duke, on May 31, 1990. Duke takes a point of personal privilege to condemn Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer’s statement concerning his veto of Duke’s bill outlawing state affirmative action programs. Holden was joined by the chamber’s entire Black Caucus membership in his rebuke of Duke. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate
A Future Honors The Past — Brad Bennet, nearly two years old, is reflected in the smooth black marble of the Louisiana War Memorial. Brad's image is framed between the memorial's black marble and the etched names of Louisiana soldiers who lost their lives in all wars since the civil war. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa Mid 1980s
Hope — Kendall Bailey, 6, lower right, and Derrick Christoff, 7, listen to a preacher offer a prayer with a message directed at ending racism in America during a July 4th civil rights rally and march in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa Mid-Late 1980s
Catholicism in Glasgow, Missouri — A gold toned cross atop the steeple of Saint Mary's Catholic Church, built high above the Missouri River in Glasgow, Missouri, radiates in the Sunday morning sunlight as Mass is being celebrated. The image was published as the "Religion" section front photograph in "Glasgow - Story of a Missouri Rivertown," a book published by the Missouri School of Journalism in 1979. (Photo by Stephan Savoia)
The Heartache Of Hurry — Three high school students, who chose not to give their names, mourn the death of a friend as they huddle together alongside a freight train that ran into a classmate's car while their friend was attempting to beat the train through its crossing the day before Thanksgiving in Monroe, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe Louisiana New-Star-World Circa Early 1980s
#45
Lunch at Mae's Cafe — Waitress Norma Jean Rainford whisks away Mae's great-granddaughter, Marisa, as James Barron begins his lunch of red beans and rice, stew, dumplings and cornbread at Mae’s Cafe in rural southeast Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate on July 3, 1987
Students at Risk — Louisiana high school senior Richard Cavalier, left, sits on a couch with his handicapped mother Rosa, who was paralyzed after suffering a stroke four years earlier, watching television as her younger son Brian, 7, peers through toy binoculars in their Baton Rouge, Louisiana home. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate on May 16, 1989
Poverty's Nursery — Deborah LaBoyteaux, 23, a divorced unemployed young mother of three children, while pregnant with her fourth child, lifts her 10-month-old son John from his crib in the child's bedroom / nursery after a nap in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LaBoyteaux says of her life, “I guess I liked the idea of playing house. I was not thinking of the responsibilities of having babies.” (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana Sunday Advocate Magazine on October 19, 1986
Here & There — Dying of prostate cancer, Percy Hood visits his first wife's grave with his second wife Nancy, 22 years his younger, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The reality that Percy will soon be resting at his first wife's side is not lost on either him or Nancy. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana Sunday Advocate Magazine
#54
Beefing Up — Reemy Forbes, 12, was grooming his two-year-old Polled Hereford “Skeeter” until he decided his new cowboy hat required tidying up instead. A neglected Skeeter was no worse for the wear as he won grand champion status several minutes later at the Louisiana State University AgCenter Livestock Show in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa Mid 1980s
Grace In Motion — United States Olympic 10-meter platform medalist Michele Mitchell flies through the air toward the water below during the National Sports Festival VI at the Louisiana State University natatorium during July & August 1985 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa July-August 1985
#59
Where The Past Meets The Future — An early 1960's pickup truck drives a winding rural road adjacent to the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station's natural draft cooling tower in Claiborne County near Port Gibson, Mississippi. Construction of the nuclear power plant is nearing completion and is expected to be commissioned in 1985. Grand Gulf's reactor is the most powerful United States reactor and the 7th most powerful in the world. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe News-Star-World Circa 1983
Javelin — Matt Schelton a University of Tennessee Decathlon All-American takes the last of his decathlon javelin throws during the SEC's track and field championship meet in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, May 14, 1988. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate
Tearful Good-bye — Sister Scholastica, one of three “Missionaries of Charity” nuns left in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Mother Teresa to begin a mission of charity, watches from an airport terminal window as Mother Teresa's plane taxis down a runway beginning the now canonized saint’s return to India. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate
White Trash Country Club — Teenage boys swing from a tree-rope before dropping into Bayou Desiard in Ouachita Parish near Monroe, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe News-Star-World Circa Early 1980s
Dog Walker in Paris — A woman who has been walking her dogs on the streets of Paris, France enters her apartment building on a 2019 summer sunny Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Stephan Savoia)
Post Game Locker Room — Standing in the kitchen of their Baton Rouge, Louisiana home eight year-old Katie Woods, removes her dirty football uniform handing her helmet, shoulder pads and jersey to her father, Dr. Danny Woods, after her final game of the season. Katie scored a touchdown during the game which ended in a tie. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana Sunday Advocate Magazine on December 3, 1989
Fatherly Love — Leonard Rucker gives his son Jamar Rucker, #32, of the Pee Wee Cougars a hug on the sidelines during a time-out in the first half of their championship game. The Cougars had just scored a touchdown to jump off to a 6-0 lead. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa 1986
#92
Final Hours - No Reprieve — Jimmy Wingo, tried and convicted of murdering Newton and Erline Brown during a home invasion, has just learned the Louisiana State Penitentiary and Prison Farm Pardon Board has not commuted his death sentence. Sara Easley, Wingo’s mother, attempting to comfort herself and her son for the final time, is also saying her last goodby just hours before his execution is carried out on June 16, 1987 in Angola, Louisiana. (Photo By Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate
#93
Sharing Candy… With A Boy — Rebekah Bedwell, 10, offers to share her bag of candy corn with Cole Ladner, 13, at the livestock barn on the Louisiana State University campus Thursday afternoon, November 13, 1986. Rebekah and Cole are neighbors from Franklin, Louisiana who are each showing three of her uncle, Bobby Smith’s, sheep at the Block & Bridle Club’s Rodeo and Livestock Show. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate
Lost In Educational Segregation — Only a decade after public schools were fully desegregated in Louisiana, a pair of school dropouts working toward their high school equivalency diploma stand in front of a chalkboard at the Monroe Learning Center in Monroe, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa 1980-1984
Bouncing Sound — A young boy listens to the sounds created by moving air as two friends bounce inside a inflatable moon-walk balloon in Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe News-Star-World Circa 1983
Bayou Country Fog — School buses pick up students in a heavy South Louisiana early morning fog on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate Circa Mid 1980s
Dig Yourself — Addicts Take Hard Road Back To Life - Blue Waters is a 28-day in residence four week addiction treatment program where residences participate in encounter group sessions each morning throughout their stay. Third week group members Michael Hall, left to right, John Rushing, Cyrus Chaney and Abner Batiste confront a group member responding to his denial with laughter. Group counselor Susan Hodas, second from left, casts a skeptical expression toward the unnamed group member’s explanation. Photo by Stephan Savoia Published by the Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Times & Morning Advocate on November 27, 1989
Flying Old School — Jack Keahey, center, prefers to pilot his restored 1942 Boeing - Stearman PT-13 biplane trainer from the second seat where, at an altitude of 1,000 feet and an airspeed of 100 miles per hour, he surveys the air space around his aircraft. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Monroe Louisiana News-Star-World Circa Early 1980s
“Maggie - I Think I Got Something To Say To You” — Maggie and her friend / chauffeur Butch Jones, drive along Government Street during a warm and glaring sunlit summer afternoon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stephan Savoia) Published by The Baton Rouge Louisiana State-Time & Morning Advocate Circa Mid-Late 1980s
We’ve raised $25,000 toward our $40,000 goal
to mount and tour “A Lifetime of Photojournalism.” Your gift also powers what comes
next for f4 & See It; a companion book, photography workshops, and the
preservation of Stephan Savoia’s work.
The f4 & See It Foundation welcomes correspondence from
photographers, educators, journalists, donors, and members of the public.
Inquiries regarding programs, partnerships, press, and tax-deductible
contributions may be directed to the Foundation by mail or email.
Mailf4 & See It Foundation
P.O. Box 226
North Pembroke, MA 02358