![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/70772dff-3e7f-44b8-832c-fca4b257cfc8_rw_1920.jpg?h=caccf846a93d56e5da7945e6bb6ce446)
Nancy, class project, 1989
St. Edward's University
1987 - 1992
1987 - 1992
I entered college with vision of becoming a portrait photographer like Annie Leibovitz or Arnold Newman. I began asking strangers to sit for my photography assignments as a means of breaking out of my comfort zone and depending on my roommates and classmates. Nancy, pictured above, caught my eye in the smoking section one afternoon. I admired her jacket, started a conversation, and asked if she would sit in front of my camera.
The big question arose the day before our meeting in the photo studio: What would she do in front of the camera? Nancy and I didn’t have an informal relationship like I did with my previous models. The first half hour was filled with awkward poses and lighting changes. I had two remaining frames on my Mamiya C220. I asked if there was anything in the painting studio that she could hold as a prop. She left studio and returned with this self-portrait.
These are a series of studio portraits of classmates, muses, and strangers between 1989-1992 while studying Photocommunications at St. Edward's University. What started off as making images for course assignments evolved into opening a photography business before graduation.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/d2466afe-07a1-4c46-94d7-b4b6ce0c90b5_rw_1920.jpg?h=008169e8567d99fd47b6785b07514e4c)
Jennifer, class project, 1989
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/f2c6015f-6aa6-4ca8-b0ea-b39a4831aaa9_rw_1920.jpg?h=7ab593cf86a4854f32e58fee339f985e)
Karen, class project, 1990
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/370c687d-ad2b-449e-b132-024df8b0096a_rw_1920.jpg?h=04e2efed68e94405db029f9425603439)
Terry, class project, 1990
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/9d9128a8-8cf7-4d07-9b62-66fafd03696f_rw_1920.jpg?h=807f1d8589844cf0b1168cae7ecf142e)
Chris, class project, 1990
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/81e68e3c-c6ae-4343-9a8c-92868fa3af5c_rw_1920.jpg?h=d422393bce4939d6446b4ab77ba3e876)
Melanie, class project,1990
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/6a509905-d64e-4ece-bdd8-2e36c7d6d65a_rw_1920.jpg?h=c28cfec0fc2aa6697919c3b7ece3988f)
Alex, class project, 1990
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/f59b2a05-25a2-4441-bcee-b7e9fd767ae3_rw_1920.jpg?h=52fe9e50e24db878addad755efba1eab)
Ramona, SEU Campus Images, 1990
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/8850395b-baa0-4f0e-b665-3178b48dabae_rw_1920.jpg?h=3e3eed4b00eb307e24c668f1120002a0)
DJ, class project, 1991
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/9bc8222b-5974-461c-8657-4ebff78cda49_rw_1920.jpg?h=144a89dc98aa3dc8a88c15c6e745e4c8)
Jennifer, class project, 1991
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/0ea7dbe1-92fd-49b5-8f27-778d0e721793/66ebb1e4-e76a-456e-b76d-f9d5f4435dae_rw_1920.jpg?h=1a9af9e58a8ec3016509dafb71a339a8)
Ashley, SEU Campus Images, 1991