President’s Blog

Benjamin Ariff

Professional Photographer and Brooks Institute graduate, Benjamin Ariff attended WPPI Las Vegas 2010, a trade show that attracts tens of thousands of photographers from around the world each year.

Benjamin had this to say about his experience:

I have the pleasure of sharing a booth with the nice folks from WPPI. 15,000 people from all around the world of all ages came to learn and discuss the growing popularity of wedding photography.  At my booth, I met people who spoke various languages and shared a wide array of cultural differences but shared the one similarity; an interest in wedding photography. Many people were interested in improving their knowledge and skill set.  The energy was high, the people were friendly, and everyone showed a great passion for photography. This show greatly highlighted the current trends and changes that are rapidly developing. Wedding photography is growing in popularity as a career and a viable source of income.  WPPI was well received giving all participants a solid idea of the current marketplace.

Brooks Institute is proud to support the continuation of education for photographers with our new Wedding Photography certificate program. This 24-credit certificate program is designed to be completed in four sessions over 32 weeks, preparing students to successfully pursue and/or further careers in the wedding photography industry. Graduates of the certificate program will be trained to approach weddings with artistic vision and demonstrate proficiency in the art of visual storytelling. This program emphasizes the skills required to work within varying wedding environments as well as the discipline necessary to work with this specific clientele from start to finish. Those interested in learning more about the Wedding Photography Certificate program can contact an admissions representative at (888) 276-4999.

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Flyer image by Mark Turner

Outstanding work from the Brooks Institute School of Visual Journalism is being featured now at the Ventura County Arts Council Collegiate Exhibition. The exhibit runs from March 5 through March 31 at the Ventura County Government Center located at 800 South Victoria Blvd in Ventura. (The exhibition is located in the Main Administration Building, top floor of the Atrium Gallery.) The public is invited to a reception scheduled for Thursday, March 18 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

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Alumnus Alexander Haessner was recently profiled on Germany’s TVNTV for his participation in New York’s Fashion Week 2010. Since graduating from Brooks, Alexander has made New York his home.

http://www.tvntv.de/public/newyork.mov

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Left to right: Yao Shiguan, Professor & Vice Dean of Teaching, Administration Division; Xiong Ying, Dean of School of Foreign Languages; Dr. Roger Andersen, President, Brooks Institute; Kuang Guozhu, President, Dalian University of Technology Photo Credit: David Litschel

The three visitors from Dalian University of Technology were accompanied by Yuhsun Edward Shih, Ph.D., Director of International Admissions, Colorado Technical University, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The purpose of the visit was to meet with Dr. Roger Andersen and David Litschel, Vice President of Academic Affairs, to discuss ways in which the two institutions could cooperate in the future. Plans are to follow up with another meeting in March.

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Rick Rickman at reception for "The Wonder Years." Photo Credit: Nina Gomez

Brooks Institute faculty member Rick Rickman’s photographic career has taken many twists and turns. Rickman’s ability to remain flexible and his willingness to seize opportunities as they appear have allowed him to follow this luge-like course that now lands him on assignment at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. This marks his 14^th year photographing the Olympic Games.

“When I first started photography, I was strictly a news hound. I love the excitement of news. Later I did my stint with combat [photography].  When I think about what’s been happening with my career, it strikes me as a bit ironic because I never really had any interest in sports photography.  Personally, I’ve always been drawn to sports because I ran competitively most of my life, played volleyball with some pretty amazing teams and love to surf.  However, the covering sports aspect of my shooting has been somewhat accidental.  I think I’m just good at it because my hand-eye coordination has always been pretty good and my timing is pretty sharp as well.”

Just as the Olympic athletes do, Rickman will rely on his years of training, sense of discipline and physical aptitude to overcome the many challenges that the Olympic Games present for photographers.

“In the past, going on almost 40 years of this kind of coverage, the one thing that poses the most challenging equation is the number of photographers who are credentialed to cover these competitions,” said Rickman. “The number of photographers has increased exponentially and it makes capturing unique images increasingly harder. The other major challenge is staying focused on the important aspects of the games themselves. Each Olympic Games has a flavor that develops. There’s a sense of energy that carries the mood of the games forward. Think of Mexico City, Munich, LA, Barcelona, Beijing, Albertville. Every location has its own character and unique events that shaped how each Olympic Games was perceived. A photographer has to tap into that character to help bring coverage to life.”

For more information about Rick Rickman and to view his work, visit www.rickrickman.com and www.newsportphoto.com.

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This  week Mr. Duk Hyung Yoo, President of Seoul Institute of the Arts, and I signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the Establishment of Academic and Artistic Cooperation between our schools. The academic, artistic, and cultural cooperation and exchanges between the two institutions may include:

• Exchange of students
• Exchange of faculty and staff members
• Student internships
• Joint productions (i.e. film, photography, design, etc.) and research projects
• Joint conferences
• Joint cultural programs
• Joint exhibitions, performances and workshops
• Special lecture programs

Both schools have been in preliminary discussions of a possible student documentary project in South Korea during the summer of 2011.

Mr. Yoo and I are excited about the cultural and educational programs that can be developed between our two premier visual arts schools.

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Photo Credit: Ana Aguirre, Blake Grimmer, Sara Kirkendoll, Jenn Sakamoto, Nick Trochil

Our students’ creative skills are often put to the test. The “Big Set” assignment in our Commercial Photo 2 class is part of our Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography degree program and is a great “big” example of the sort of challenges our students are presented with. In addition to thinking creatively, assignments like this offer students the opportunity to work as part of a team, set goals, establish timelines and deadlines, and develop a portfolio quality image.

Professional Photography student Blake Grimmer gave us the “what’s what” about the photo that his group created to fulfill the “Big Set” requirements.

What were the requirements for this class assignment? There had to be at least three people in the image, we had to build the entire set ourselves, it had to feature some kind of beverage, and the scene had to appear like it was shot at night.

Who was you instructor?
Mr. Rob Winner. He is the man.

The subject is pretty creative – how did your group come up with this idea?
We just brainstormed as a group and tossed around a bunch of ideas together. We wanted something comical and smart.

How long did it take to build the set?
We spent about a day and a half building and getting everything just right. Putting the walls up and then lighting it all probably took up most of our time. But it was a blast.

How long did it take to coordinate/set up the shot?
Not long, everyone that we asked to model said yes on the first try. It was all pretty easy. Everything just fell into place. I think we got super lucky.

What was it like to work with such a large group of subjects?
Not bad at all! We chose our subjects well, I guess. Also, we were very prepared. We knew what we wanted in the shot and we had everything ready to go once our models arrived, so the actual “shooting” took less than ten minutes.

How long did post-production take?
About four to five hours.

Do you have any advice you can offer to future students who will work on a “big set” project?
Get in a group with people who are team players. I think that was our group’s greatest advantage. We all shared the work and we had fun the entire time.

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Photo Credit: Nina Gomez

Recently the Commercial class in our School of Film pitched the idea to me to make a short film explaining Brooks Institute’s Red Dot Policy. This policy was developed a very long time ago at Brooks to ensure that all students use our industry-current equipment and modern up-to-date facilities in a professional, safe, respectful and dependable manner.

Best of all, the students asked me to “star” in this video!

How could I turn down an opportunity to launch my big-screen career – especially after reviewing the script?

This film will be featured during our orientations to help students better understand the Red Dot Policy. No doubt the film will receive some laughs (whether intended or not!) while communicating to our new students key aspects of the policies and procedures used to check out equipment and reserve facilities.

Special thanks to the great film crew (below). They were well organized, professional and, best of all, fun to work with!

From Left to Right: Producer, Taylor Erickson; Director of Photography, Danielle Sandoval; Brooks Institute President, Dr. Roger Andersen; Sound Specialist/Actor, Eric Guerrero; and Director, Jared Alden (Not pictured: Editor, Dan Simmons) Photo Credit: Nina Gomez

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