As a photojournalism professor, R. Smith Schuneman mixed high expectations with a warm manner to launch the careers of a wide spectrum of photographers.
R. Smith ‘Smitty’ Schuneman, University of Minnesota photojournalism instructor, dies at 88
He developed the photojournalism program at the University of Minnesota, helping launch his students’ careers, and then built a successful communications firm.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 14, 2024 at 4:00PM
His students at the University of Minnesota, many of whom regarded Schuneman as a pivotal influence in their lives, went on to shoot for National Geographic, Look, Life and numerous other magazines and newspapers, as well as for corporate clients, photography studios and a wide array of film and video productions.
Then Schuneman, who went by his nickname “Smitty” and never by his given name of Raymond, embarked on a second career with the creation of Media Loft , an events and communications agency. He eventually sold the company to his employees before retiring with his wife, Pat, to a lakeside home in Okoboji, Iowa.
“Smitty could be utterly ruthless, uncompromising or unyielding in his goal of making photojournalists out of us,” wrote Richard Olsenius, a former student of Schuneman’s, in a memorial book prepared by friends. “But it was underlied with a deep-rooted concern for what is right and moral. He demanded honesty from our work.”
He died Nov. 24 at age 88 of heart problems.
Schuneman was born in 1936 in Spirit Lake, Iowa. His parents Raymond “Art” and Olive “Bunch” Schuneman ran the local newspaper in Milford, Iowa, and it was there that Schuneman began publishing photos while still in school.
He also ran a side business covering weddings, events and “whatever pictures were needed around the small town,” his wife said.
She remembers seeing Schuneman for the first time when her band director arranged for her to take drum lessons from him. She was 15 and he was 16. She later worked for him at his photo service, processing the film.
Schuneman was valedictorian of his 1954 graduating class before going on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in photography from Ohio University. He and Pat married in 1958, and then Schuneman earned a second master’s degree and a doctor of philosophy in mass communications from the University of Minnesota.
“He always loved photography,” Pat said. “It was just part of him.”
Schuneman started teaching and soon added the love of his students’ work to his passions, Pat said. “He absolutely loved his students. They were really all important to him.”
William Albert Allard, a National Geographic photographer, had come to the University of Minnesota to study writing when he met Schuneman in a “chance introduction” and found his life changed.
“It’s been a life of doing what I loved to do and it all started with that young, not very tall but extremely enthusiastic associate professor named R. Smith Schuneman,” Allard wrote in a memorial book.
Other students included Judy Olausen, Nancy Bundt, and longtime Minnesota Star Tribune photographer Mike Zerby. Photographer Jim Brandenburg studied at the University of Minnesota Duluth but said in the memorial book that he still felt that Schuneman, whom he met and worked with in other venues, was a “huge influence on me and I admired him tremendously.”
Schuneman left the U in 1976 to create Media Loft. He and Pat started the company in their Plymouth basement before moving to Minneapolis as they handled corporate communications and event planning for Munsingwear and later had contracts with Target, Polaris, Control Data, Coast to Coast and others.
The company grew, and by the time Pat and Smitty were ready to retire, they had some 50 employees. Schuneman considered offers from private firms but in 1998 chose his own staff to take over through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
Media Loft CEO David Kelsey was brought into the company at that time and said he found a culture where individuals felt respected and workers felt ownership of the company’s future.
“Because of the culture Smitty created, you wish for everybody’s success,” Kelsey said. As he did with his students, Schuneman demanded top-level work from his staff, Kelsey said, focusing on creative excellence and an exceptional level of service.
“Beyond that, he was just a great guy,” he added.
In retirement, Schuneman maintained several boats — both sailboats and power boats — and donated one of them to the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum. Schuneman was an avid ham radio operator throughout his life. He also enjoyed scuba diving at various spots with his late son, Thomas, or in the Grand Caymans where he and Pat had a condominium.
Besides his wife, Pat Schuneman of Okoboji, he is survived by his son, Bill Schuneman, and grandchildren Logan Schuneman and Claire Schuneman.
Services have been held. Schuneman was buried with his Nikon camera at Lakeview Cemetery in Spirit Lake.
He developed the photojournalism program at the University of Minnesota, helping launch his students’ careers, and then built a successful communications firm.
