PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY
I began my photographic journey in 1973 when I was a junior at New York Institute of
Technology on Long Island. I was a Communication Arts major specializing in
Television Broadcasting when I took a photography course in my junior year. The first
time I shot a roll of Black and White film and developed it, I was hooked. I knew, at that
moment in time I would pursue some aspect of photography in my life.
Once I got Dektol and D-76 in my blood, I began taking photographs and practicing my
craft. I went into the U.S. Army soon after college. Uncle Sam invited me to the party
since I drew a low number in the draft while still in college. The recruiter asked me what
area of the military I wanted to go into and after some thought I asked if there were any
openings in photography. He said there was one slot and we had to lock into it quickly,
so needless to say I was raising my hand and taking the military oath within days of the
initial meeting with the recruiter.
I spent six months in Still Photography School in Denver, Colorado training with the Air
Force. It was very intensive and extensive photographic training starting with
Photographic Theory, Large Format Cameras and Photo Chemistry. Once I completed
the Air Force Photo School, I was assigned to a support group at Fort Bragg, NC. I
worked in a small “make shift” lab shooting for military newspapers and publications. I
got over 400 photographs and articles published during my 2 1/2 years stationed at Ft.
Bragg. The instruction I got in military photography school and the in-depth experience I
gained from photographing in all kinds of conditions and situations has been invaluable
throughout my photographic and teaching career.
I left the Army in 1978 and spent three more years in the National Guard as a
photojournalist for the NC National Guard Magazine covering all aspects of training and
military exercises.
I decided to take advantage of the GI Bill in 1981 and enrolled in the MFA program at
ECU in Communication Arts. I was in for a rude awakening. The MFA program was a
lot more difficult than undergraduate school and my military schools. Professor Henry
Stindt took me under his wing and with his guidance and mentoring; I developed and
honed my photographic skills and my personal vision as a photographer. I also branched
out into multimedia, video production and mixed media during my tenure at Graduate
School.
My days in Graduate School were eye opening and extremely beneficial to my growth as
an artist and image maker. I worked as Henry Stindt’s Commercial Photography
assistant for over three years in addition to helping Bob Rasch produce a comprehensive
dual projector historical slide show project for the town of Williamston. I have not doubt
that the combination of military training and diverse instruction and experiences in
graduate school prepared me for my teaching and photographic careers. I also found my
studies in Painting and Art History very beneficial towards my growth as an artist / image
maker in addition to the just being exposed to a variety of artists and art disciplines
during my years at the School of Art.
I worked as a graduate assistant in the photo area and lighting studio at the school of art
in addition to working at Joyner Library and the Medial School as a media producer /
photographer. All this experience combined truly prepared me for my teaching career
and made the difference when interviewing for jobs. In fact…I would not have been
offered a full time position at Carteret Community College if I didn’t have the art history
courses and part-time teaching experience.
Key point here is that my diverse experience and military background helped me get a
job.
Once I interviewed and got a “half-time” position teaching photography at Carteret
Community College, I still had full time family and financial obligations. I was a single
father at the time with a 3 –year-old son to take care of.
I took a chance and quit a full-time position at Caswell Center in Kinston as a media
specialist to begin a teaching career. I took the position at Caswell after graduating ECU
because it paid well and enabled me to take care of my financial responsibilities while
looking for a teaching job. Looking back, I don’t know how I did it and would not want
to do it again, but I suppose we all have to pay our dues when it comes to our careers…
especially in the arts.
In order to make ends meet with my financial obligations I took on part-time teaching
jobs at two other colleges in addition to doing freelance photography and video
production in the Greenville area. I also pursued getting some shows at this time as well.
Moving up in one’s career also includes some luck and timing. After a year of traveling
from Greenville (Pitt Community College) to Little Washington (Beaufort Community
College) and Morehead City, an opportunity for full-time employment opened up at
Carteret
I was asked if I could teach Art Appreciation and Art History and without even thinking
about it for a second I said YES, even though I had never taught these courses before. I
took them in graduate school, but teaching them to a classroom full of Interior Design
students was another thing entirely.
Needless to say, I got the texts and slides and stayed one week ahead of the students that
first year teaching art history. I was baptized in fire and I believe that’s the only way to
learn and develop your skills as a teacher.
I got involved in the local Arts Council in Morehead City and made a great effort to get
shows and exhibit my work across the state in addition to taking on the Chair of the Arts
and Humanities Committee at CCC.
That was 20 years ago and I have never stopped learning. Teaching and coordinating an
Art Program enables me to pursue my art, photography and writing. It is the best of both
worlds if you can get your foot in the door somewhere and that is the challenge.
The jobs don’t normally come from traditional venues. Joe Champagne my best friend in
graduate school and Associate Professor of Photography at Virginia Intermont College
realized this early on. Going to CAA conferences and interviews can be hit or miss and a
roll of the dice as far as landing a job. We went that route with many of our fellow
graduates to no avail. I can remember a December in 1985 when six or seven graduate
students piled into two cars and went to New York City to attend a CAA conference. It
was like a meat market and all I can remember is all of us (guys and girls) crammed in
one hotel room of the Sheraton – six packs of beer and cheap wine keeping cold on the
7th floor window ledge. Mattresses were strewn wall to wall and the smell of body odor
permeated the room. Too many people in one room, but with that said it was fun,
adventurous and a great memory, although nothing came of it as far as jobs of any of us.
Joe and I got our jobs by taking risks, being proactive and getting ourselves “out there”.
Joe went to Charlotte without a teaching job, but he had a back-up skill in Emergency
Services and it paid the bills until he made some connections at the Light Factory –
helped hanging exhibits and networked. I believe that’s the way to get a job. Working
hard and finding a way into the field through the back door.
You can’t be afraid to get yourself out there. Show your work – find a way to exhibit no
matter how little known the venue and promote yourself.
Our careers are a journey and when you begin that journey the going can be rough. There
was a time when my three-year old son Adam and I slept in the car or the little lighting
studio at the college I worked for. We bunched up some backdrops and slept on them
after security locked up the college.
Its amazing what you will do to kick start your career.
When I look back at those days in the mid-80’s, it almost seems like a dream. The hoops
I had to jump through. The risks I took didn’t seem like risks at the time. I have a
romantic nostalgic for those days and now that the dues have been paid my career is in
hyper drive. I’ve been teaching all aspects of photography for over 20 years; teach Art
Appreciation and Art History in the classroom and online and actually Coordinate the
entire Fine Arts Program at my college. I’m Director of Distance Learning and am
responsible for teaching the teachers how to migrate their courses to the online
environment. I blinked and the dues were paid. It all seems like a strange, surreal dream
yet it’s not.
Nothing in this life replaces hard work, passion and enthusiasm for your art and your
personal vision as an artist, photographer and teacher. Nobody said it would be easy.
Nobody gets a free ride, but with that said, there is a great deal of opportunity “out there”
for passionate, engaged, serious artists, photographers, and teachers. You just have to
find your niche, your vision, your style and your voice.
Be creative in how you approach your job search. Don’t only look into the normal
venues for seeking employment. Get yourself and your work out in the world via the
web and by having exhibits and shows no matter how small or insignificant the space.
Join a professional organization in your career field. Basically just connect and network
with people that have similar interests as your do. The job is not going to come to you –
you have to go after it.
My son was a baby when I started my career journey and now he is a junior in college
and I have 5 years left until retirement…that is if I want to retire. I will always write,
make photographs, paint and pursue my passion for the things I love.