
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.

Jennifer, class project, 1989

Karen, class project, 1990

Terry, class project, 1990

Chris, class project, 1990

Melanie, class project,1990

Alex, class project, 1990

Ramona, SEU Campus Images, 1990

DJ, class project, 1991

Jennifer, class project, 1991

Ashley, SEU Campus Images, 1991