JESSICA BURKART
Jessica Burkart received her first camera when she was 10 years old and was in the darkroom by the age of 14. She instantly fell in love with viewing the world through the lens and freezing moments of time. In college Jessica took as many photography classes as she could, from medium format to color photography to the history of photography. She graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Graphic Design. Using her knowledge of both graphic design and photography, Jessica moved to Chicago where she worked in-house for a couple of retail stores. There she taught herself studio photography and after her 5 years there mastered styling and product photography. Currently Jessica continues to design for a local Chicago business and spends her free time helping and teaching at Chicago Photography Center. She also travels the world, documenting her trips’ stories by recreating the memories through her photographs.
Currently teaching: Digital Lab
DAVID CADY, JR
David started his journey into photography just two short years ago at CPC. After taking a few classes, he began volunteering in the digital lab, where he learned from some great mentors. He believes you can learn just as much about photography in the lab as you do in classes or out shooting. David’s work was featured in a CPC show of teachers and volunteers in fall of 2009, and more recently in a show with CPC’s Street Photography class, which featured work the class did in Pilsen. David’s photos have been seen in Time Out Chicago and various websites. David has a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Eastern Illinois University.
Currently teaching: Digital Lab
SABINA COSIC
Sabina Cosic was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and raised everywhere. Armed with fluency in three languages and wild memories of a childhood spent in refuge, she is now a digital illustrator & photographer currently residing in Chicago. After receiving a B.F.A. in Photography at Columbia College Chicago in 2009, freelance graphic design, event photography, and studio managing for Susan Aurinko has occupied most of her time.
After learning the art of photography, she always sought more from it. As a result, she began to master the industry software in order to take charge of the aesthetics of her work and make limitless possibilities for expansion and creative outlet.Sabina’s work has been shown by Susan Aurinko and the MARS Gallery in a show called ‘Absolute Fantasy’. She is currently working on a revival of Edward Gorey’s “Gashlycrumb Tinies.”
Currently teaching: Photoshop Boot Camps
CAITLYN EAKINS
Caitlyn Eakins moved to Chicago in 2009 after receiving her B.F.A. in Photography and Digital Imaging from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She has also interned at the Herb Booth Studio (Florida) and the Irish Gallery of Photography (Dublin). Since that time, Caitlyn has worked as a freelance Photographer and Photography instructor throughout the Chicago area.
Currently, Caitlyn is working on two Fine Art projects, Domestic Eroticism and DOLL, aside from shooting family portraits and head shots for actors. Her gallery showings include: Tata Gala (2010), Off With Your Head… (2010), Caitlyn Eakins/David Klotz Exhibit (2010), and the 7th Annual Women’s Art Exhibition (2009).
Currently Teaching: Photoshop for Photographers, Flash Photography and Digital Labs
ANGELA B. GARBOT
Angela Garbot’s career as a photographer sprung from her love affair with photography that started as a young girl documenting family vacations. She strives to capture the essence of her subjects, beyond just what they look like, whether it’s a bride on her wedding day, a newborn child, a busy executive or a fresh food recipe. Her work has graced the covers and pages of several calendars, been published in magazines such as Chicago Social and in the book “How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood Renaissance.” Angela has been showcased in exhibits throughout Chicago and, most recently, she was a highlighted artist for the SPEX West Loop Art + Vision series and a featured artist in a Chicago Pop-Up Art Loop gallery space. She is a member of Chicago Photography Center’s (CPC’s) Founders’ Circle and serves on the Board of Directors for CPC and the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce, where she was voted 2009 Chamber Member of the Year.
Angela has been interviewed for her wedding photography expertise and is in the news for her recent involvement in an upcoming TV show for Emmy-Award winning Upscale TV scheduled to air on FOX in November.
www.AngelaGarbot.com and www.facebook.com/agarbot
Currently teaching: Wedding & Event Photography Boot Camp, iPhone Boot Camp
STEVEN E. GROSS
Through his pioneering use of photojournalism, Steven E. Gross has changed the way both couples and their families think about wedding photography. He brings a unique sense of composition and timing to all of his work. This distinctive style carries over to his candid editorial, commercial and portrait photography.
Steven chronicles weddings in a documentary style, capturing the entire day using black and white film and traditional fiber-based prints. Through his lens, images become timeless art.His keen eye discovers subtle gestures and fleeting emotions, and reveals the passion and irony underlying the wedding ritual: a stolen moment between bride and groom, a little girl enveloped in a bride’s veil.
His approach to photography has caught the eye of ABC Nightline, Good Morning America, Fox TV and PBS. His work has been featured in Esquire,Smithsonian, Chicago Magazine and numerous publications both nationally and abroad. His book projects include Zhou Brothers, In The Studio and Black and White: Defining Moments of Weddings and Marriage.
Gross served in the U.S. Air Force and traveled abroad before studying photography at Columbia College in Chicago. He established Steven E. Gross and Associates in 1982 and Real Life Weddings in 1995. An avid biker, camper and sea kayaker, he lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.
www.stevengross.com and www.reallifeweddings.com
Currently teaching: Wedding & Event Photography Boot Camp, Advanced Photography
DARRIS LEE HARRIS
Darris Lee Harris, originally from Wichita, Kansas, has lived and worked in Chicago for the last 20 years. His love for the lakefront has ushered a slow migration north to his current Rogers Park home.
Bragging rights include a BA from Columbia College; photo assisting for talented artists; photographing for publications; traveling across the country for architects and designers; participating in solo and group fine art exhibitions; representation with multiple Chicago galleries; and having a 99 year old Grandmother that still lives independently.
The parts of Darris’ brain not consumed by the pursuit and capture of a good view include hiking & biking, enjoying time with friends, and finding new ways to corrupt his three nephews.
www.darrisharris.com
Currently teaching: Architectural Photography Boot Camp
MATTHEW GREGORY HOLLIS
Matthew Gregory Hollis, born in Oxford, Ohio, earned a B.F.A. in photography from Miami University in 2000 and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002. His work has been exhibited in group shows including Interrogating Diversity at the Betty Rhymer Gallery in Chicago; The Laughing Video at the Knitting Factory in New York; Spectacle: Sound and Vision at Sonotheque in Chicago; NeoVernacular at the Steve Turner Gallery in Los Angeles; and C.O.M.A #16: Roam at the California Occidental Museum of Art in Chicago. Matthew lives and works in Chicago.
Currently teaching: Fundamentals of Digital Photography, Lightroom Boot Camp, Digital Lab Instructor
JONATHAN MICHAEL JOHNSON
Jonathan is a fine artist living and working in Chicago. He earned a BA in education from Miami University in 2002 after studying at the School at the Art Institute and Columbus College of Art & Design. His photography has been exhibited in group shows including Growing up CAD at The Chicago Art Department; Looptopia; and Alternating Visions: 12 Chicago Artists at the University of Chicago Hospital. Solo shows include Unique Perspectives of at Oculus Gallery. His work has been published in Wired Magazine,The Architect’s Newspaper, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Public Radio and the Chicago Journal.
Jonathan’s darkroom photography students recently held a group show entitled Juvenile Development at The Chicago Arts District Exhibition Space.
Currently teaching: After School Matters Program
WILLIAM KIRBY
Bill Kirby is an artist, documentary photographer and teacher with a passion for the city of Chicago, revering the heritage, history and distinct character of the Windy City. A longtime resident of Chicago, Bill is a photography teacher at Columbia College of Chicago and College of Lake County at Grays Lake. He has an M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design and has been a darkroom technician for museums and photographers for the past 20 years. Bill has created cartoon characters (such as “Otto” and “Buzz Razzmadore”) since childhood and was a full-time staff photographer in the Chicago 2000 photography project.
Currently teaching: Fundamentals of Film, Intermediate Film, Fine Art Darkroom Printing, Film Boot Camps
ARNOLD KLEIN
Arnold Klein has been an active photographer for 40 years, ever since his father showed him how to look through the viewfinder of a Rolleiflex at the age of 13. A managing partner at a Chicago based IT firm, photography is a passion and an avocation. He has had several shows in the Chicagoland area, been published on the cover of Chicago Life, done event work for charitable organizations and has a deep landscape and portrait portfolio. He loves sharing his knowledge and exploring the richness of the photographic experience.
Currently teaching: Intermediate Digital
DAVID KLOBUCAR
David Klobucar has been an award-winning photojournalist for more than 30 years. His career began at Countryside Publications in Barrington, Illinois and ended up with a 17-year stint as both a staff photographer and photo editor at the Chicago Tribune. He won the Tribune’s Edward Scott Beck Award for Photography in 1992 among other industry awards.
In between, Klobucar has worked as a staff photographer for Sun Newspapers in Omaha, Nebraska and the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois. He has freelanced for numerous publications including the Associated Press, United Press International, the New York Times, Farm Futures Magazine, the State of Illinois, and most recently the Chicago News Cooperative.
David Klobucar was born in Kansas City, Kansas and later moved to Gladstone, Missouri, a suburb just north of Kansas City. He found his life’s calling… photography while taking a basic photo course in high school. His senior year he became one of the photographers for his high school yearbook.
From the University of Missouri-Columbia, he received a Bachelors of Journalism, concentrating on photojournalism sequence, from the School of Journalism in 1977.
He has been a member of the National Press Photographers Association where he served four years on the Board of Directors, spent three years as the Region Five Clip Contest Chair and was given the Sam Mellor Award for Leadership. Also he was a member of the Illinois Press Photographers Association and the American Society of Media Photographers.
After his departure from the Chicago Tribune in 2007, Klobucar has been moving toward teaching the next generation of photographers, finding his voice in the Fine Art and landscape photography and enjoying life.
Currently teaching: Digital Photography Boot Camp, Photo Safari
JIM KROPP
Jim Kropp is a photographer, videographer, television producer, author, and teacher. He worked in advertising as a creative director for a number of years before transitioning into video production.
He is a self-taught photographer who has traveled extensively documenting the world’s people and cultures with over 80,000 Kodachrome slides and 20,000 B&W negatives. Jim also teaches television production at The Illinois Center for Broadcasting and photography classes at The Chicago Photography Center.
Jim has a keen eye for composition and color, and over the years has developed techniques for creating beautiful photographs. In 2010, after a cruise to Italy and Sicily, Jim published Capturing Beauty with Your Camera, in which his ideas on photography are distilled into 10 tips, illustrated with photographs from his travels.
As he explains, “This book started as a controlled ’thought experiment’: What if I had to distill everything I know about a lifetime of taking photographs into a single book?” Now these ideas serve as the basis for a class Jim teaches at The Chicago Photography Center (CPC), Capturing Beauty Around Chicago – a 3-week class that prompts students to explore Chicago neighborhoods while applying the book’s tips and techniques for capturing beauty to their photographic images.
Currently, Jim is working on his second book, Capturing Beauty in Composition – 5 Golden Grids to Better Photographs, to share some of his ideas on photographic composition with his students and other photographers.
Currently teaching: Capturing Beauty with Your Camera, Digital Boot Camps
PETER LE GRAND
Peter Le Grand was born just outside of Amsterdam and came to the US when he was seventeen years old. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, went into the business world for about 14 years where he grew increasingly unhappy with what he was doing. In the mid-1970s, Peter started to work on his Masters degree in photography; when he finished he also changed professions, becoming a full-time photographer. In 1980, he added his other job of professor of photography when he started teaching at Columbia College-Chicago. He absolutely loves doing both.
On the commercial side he has completed assignments for such clients as American Express, Hyatt Hotels, Exxon Mobil and numerous others. As part of the academic side of his world he teaches classes in lighting and fashion photography, as well as the nude. During the summer he teaches a workshop in St. Remy in the South of France, and workshops on the subject of the nude for View Camera and Camera Arts magazines. The most recent publication of his work is in Carrie Leigh’s Nude Magazine, the Winter issue, which features eight of his photographs and a three page article.
ANNKATHRIN MURRAY
Annkathrin Murray was born in Germany and received a degree in photography from the Munich University of Applied Sciences. In addition she has attended photography classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Since 2000, Annkathrin has worked for artists and photographers in Germany, France and the United States.
In her personal work she examines the relationship between herself, her surroundings, and the people in her life.
When shooting for clients, Annkathrin’s favorite subjects are children. She believes that teaching children’s yoga on the side and having a background in child development help her capture the children’s natural expressions and individual personalities.
While she mainly works digitally now, Annkathrin has a strong background in film, and all that comes with it. She enjoys alternative processes like polaroid lifts and transfers and working with her Zeissikon twin lens, Diana, and Holga cameras.
www.annkathrin-pfaffendorf.com
Currently teaching: Fundamentals of Digital
CHARLES OSGOOD
Charles Osgood began his journalism career as a reporter for City News Bureau, the legendary Chicago training ground for journalists, before going to the Chicago Tribune as a reporter. After covering town meetings and features in the south suburbs, and taking photographs to run with those stories, he transferred to the photo department, where he remained for nearly 39 years.
Osgood’s assignments ranged from covering South Side murders on the midnight shift; to food and fashion in the color studio; working full-time on the Sunday Magazine; taking photographs for the Tribune Company annual report; covering “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland and the aftermath of the war in Bosnia; the economic turmoil in the Soviet Union; and Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson’s trip to China. He had his own column, Chicago Arts, consisting of a photo and caption, in the early 1990s.
In 1987, Osgood was assigned to do photos for a story on the Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor, with Rick Kogan reporting. It was the beginning of a collaboration and friendship that has lasted decades. In 1998, when Kogan asked him if he wanted to partner in a column for which they went out and found their own stories, he couldn’t have been more delighted. He has found it fulfilling on many levels and is inspired by the hunt for stories of fascinating people and places in all corners of the city and the greater Chicago area.
Osgood left the Tribune in 2008 and continues to pursue his lifelong passion for collecting fleeting moments. He has been an adjunct professor of photojournalism at Columbia College since 1991. Charles Osgood was born in Milwaukee and raised in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He graduated from Ripon College and later studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, receiving a master of fine arts degree in photography.
Find out more at http://charlesosgood.photoshelter.com/
WARREN PERLSTEIN
Warren Perlstein is a highly committed photographer with more than 30 years of experience in commercial, industrial, architectural and special event photography. He is President of Warren Perlstein Photography LLC and Yellow Page Pics, a stock photography agency providing “Hard to Find” images for advertising.
Warren was curator and major contributor of photographs for the American Indian Center of Chicago’s “50 Years of Powwow” photo exhibition, which the Field Museum is currently traveling nationally. Warren’s work is also featured in Arcadia Press’ “50 Years of Powwow” book.
Currently, his photography is exhibited in Washington DC’s National Museum of the American Indian and various Smithsonian publications.His work has been exhibited at The Field Museum, Chicago History Museum, the Illinois State Museum Art Galleries and Chicago American Indian Center’s Trickster Gallery.
Currently teaching: Tabletop/Product Photography, Business of Photography, Preparing for an Exhibit
BRIAN (BK) READ
Brian Read enjoys a career of broadcast TV management, creative camera work and video production, along with an ongoing focus on lifelong education and exploration of the arts. Brian is currently Production Manager for WYCC, PBS TV in Chicago, supervising a video production and editing team. He also maintains an active freelance production life, as cameraman for live-coverage of Cubs and White Sox baseball games, Chicago Bulls basketball, and Chicago Fire Soccer for WGN TV, Comcast, and Fox Sports. Formerly Film/Broadcast faculty with Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, and Columbia College’s Television Department, Brian has taught over 2000 students during his career, many of whom are now working for TV stations, production and post-production facilities, or as Independent Producers. One career highlight: Brian was Director Of Photography for The Crown Fountain, in Chicago’s lakefront Millennium Park. Working with artist Jaume Plensa, he shot HD video for over 800 of the faces that appear on the 30-foot screens on the two 50-foot towers of the fountain. Brian also enjoys singing and playing guitar for Chicago area blues bands, including “Smilin’ Bobby & The Hidden Charms,” exotic country blues band “The Tiki Cowboys,” as well as his own band, “The Really Big Deal.”
Currently teaching:Fundamentals of Video
DAVE RENTAUSKAS
Born in Chicago, Dave has been taking pictures for as long as he can remember. “I sold my first photographs at the age of 9. After that, I really felt like I needed a break from photography.”
Ten years later, feeling inspired, Dave decided to pick up the camera and take a photography class at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. “I really wanted to get behind the camera and start taking pictures again.” Sources have confirmed that this is a lie and he actually took the photography class because there was this cute girl named Lauren who was looking for someone to take the class with her and share a box of photo paper. After 6 years at the two-year college, Dave completed his Associate Degree in Photography. With the support of his instructors and the disappointment of his parents, Dave quit his full time job and moved to New York to continue his photographic education.
Dave graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in Professional Photographic Illustration and moved back to Chicago to be with his family (because he was broke). He has since been working in the professional photography industry as an assistant, retoucher, and photographer. On occasion he still wonders what happened to Lauren.
Currently teaching: Fundamentals of Digital and Editorial Photography
NOLAN WELLS
Currently teaching: Fundamentals of Studio Portrait Lighting
