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Images from the Industry: Greg Thomas, Kansas University
By DE Staff | Images from the Industry |
Jun 15, 2008
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 CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF GREG THOMAS' IMAGES
All images © Gregory Thomas
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Headshot of Kirsty Alley, L.A., 1986 |
Images
from the Industry is a feature in which we spotlight the work and
photography of a talented individual who is employed in a
photography-related industry, but is not a full-time photographer. This
month, we have interviewed Greg Thomas, who has spearheaded a brand-new
program at Kansas University. Entitled "PhotoMedia." It's the first photography major at the University and the only one of its kind in the state of Kansas.
We're always looking
for subjects for our "Images from the Industry" feature. If you know someone who is deserving of
the spotlight, contact us at editor@photoworkshop.com.
Double Exposure: Tell me about the new program you've developed at Kansas University.
Greg Thomas: When
I came to KU there were seven areas of study in Design: VisCom
(Illustration & Graphics), Industrial Design, Interiors, Textiles,
Ceramics, Art Education and Metals & Jewelry. We had a photo area
complete with darkrooms, several faculty and sort of a curriculum. This
was utilized however, as more of a service area to the University. If a
student in Liberal Arts wanted to take a photo class, they came here. I
learned about two and a half years ago that we were losing 10-15
students per year from area high schools because we did not offer a
major in this area. With that said, I requested that the faculty
develop a curriculum and within one semester, I brought it to the
approval of the University and the Kansas Board of Regents. With its
approval, it has become the only photo program of its kind in the State
of Kansas. The name of the area of study is “PhotoMedia,” which was
developed to capture the equity in traditional photography, digital
imaging, video and media studies relating to these areas.
The
program was officially signed off last summer, which was too late to do
any formal recruiting for the fall term. During the fall, we informed
students and at the beginning of the Spring '08 term we had 16-20
students transfer from various areas of Fine Arts—both Design and Art.
Fall '08 will be the first “official” launch, with approximately 20+
freshman who have declared it as their new major. We estimate this
major will become the second largest (VisCom is 200) in Design and by
Spring '09, it will possibly be larger than the Department of Art. Even
without advertising, we have obtained some great press coverage,
equipment support from Nikon, a $200,000K remodel of our former photo
area (we are still keeping some traditional “wet” darkrooms) from
senior administration.
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Bora Bora, 2001 |
What
has been most exciting is the involvement of longtime Design supporter
Hallmark Cards of Kansas City. When they learned of the new major, the
head of recruitment and 12 people in the Hallmark Photo Studios
immediately proposed "teaching" a class at Hallmark. This term, 10
selected students in the new program have been going to Kansas City
every Friday to learn studio photography, styling, retouching and
business practice from Hallmark. The first term was so successful that
Hallmark has offered to continue this workshop every spring to
designated students in the program. In addition to our faculty, I have
actively solicited working professionals with renowned credentials to
teach in the program as adjuncts. By the time this appears as an
article in Double Exposure, I
will be able to divulge their names. We are also grateful to Rich
Clarkson of Rich Clarkson Associates in Denver for his mentoring and
support.
DE: Are you heading up this program? What is your title?
GT:
Yes. I came to KU after 35 years of professional practice in Los
Angeles. I owned a small but internationally known branding firm. I am
Professor, Chair/Department of Design, School of Fine Arts, University
of Kansas.
DE: What is your photographic background?
GT:
I began my formal training in photography under Lloyd Schnell at the
Kansas City Art Institute (BFA 1967-1971). This was a very formal
education beginning with the pinhole camera, use of 4x5 and then 35mm
(film). I shot mostly Tri-X and Kodachrome, and went on to a Masters
program at California Institute of the Arts (MFA 1971-72), where I
continued to shoot street portraits with a 4x5. I studied under Ben
Lifson. He had an English literature background, and before we could
shoot, we had to read six pieces/books on Los Angeles—ranging from
Maltese Falcon to Reynard Branham's “Los Angeles.” This was a very
valuable experience, for when we were finished we knew exactly
where/what we wanted to shoot, and why. I finished that degree and
moved on to the program at Yale (MFA 1972-74). I was better able to
experience the last few years that Walker Evans was alive, and had
Herbert Matter for photography. Herbert was photographing the works of
Giacometti, and we watched him as he moved one pin light around a table
sculpture for hours—never said a word—but we all learned from watching.
Afterwards, I used the camera as a tool in my graphic design (GD was
what my education was in but this was pre-computer and the camera was
our only way of getting the “visual” component in our work).
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Tahiti Woman, 2001 |
DE: It appears that you're very well traveled. What are your favorite
photographic subjects?
GT:
My office in Los Angeles was a branding firm, and we used photography
quite often. Usually I would shoot projects for our clients, but
sometimes we hired an L.A. photographer and did a shoot for 100K for 10
pictures for high-budget projects like Kahlua. Of course, we took
everything she shot for that. Over the years the branding niche
developed into specific “destination branding” and we obtained clients
such as the Australian Tourist Commission, New Zealand Tourism Board
and Tahiti Tourism. The first thing I did was promote the need for new
images from a North American’s point of view. This provided the
opportunity to travel to these places a number of times, as well as
Austria and Taiwan in later years. My corporate clients, such as Litton
industries, had me traveling a number of places in Europe. During the
'80s, we shot a number of projects with the Japanese and traveled there
as well as to Singapore. Of course, my favorite subjects were the
people in those countries. They are what make the destinations
fascinating. Being a designer, I have photographed hundreds of signs,
typography, billboards and any other culturally unique materials. My
wife is the first one to comment that I travel the world to shoot a
small sign, but within those you can put your finger on the “pulse” of
the place. Over the past four years I have been branding certain U.S.
cities such as Astoria OR, Durham NC and others. A significant part of
the branding process involves documenting these places extensively, so
I usually have hundreds of images that capture the “essence” of these
destinations.
DE: Are you still able to do photography along with your duties at the
university?
GT:
Yes. As I mentioned previously, I am still actively engaged in the
profession. Both the University and myself felt this is important to be
professionally involved as long as it doesn’t interfere with my daily
duties—which can be hairy when you think I’m in charge of a
three-million-dollar budget, a faculty of 30 people, developing a
curriculum and making KU Design a brand-name source for design
education. Projects are usually scheduled in my down times (December
holidays or summer). I continue to shoot around Kansas, which has its
fair share of photographic opportunities.
DE: What are your goals with the program at Kansas University?
GT:
As with anyone else starting a program, I would say we want to be as
unique from the others as possible. The main thrust of the area will be
in professional practice. We want to engage in the fine arts side of
photography—there is a resurgence back to traditional darkroom “pulling
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Sydney, Australia, 1991 |
archival
prints." But as Chairman, I meet many parents whose first
question is, “Is my son or daughter going to be able to make a living
in this?” My response is usually that we will provide the education and
opportunity—but it's up to their kid. I do have to look at what has
happened in the industry with stock photography (I've had many photo
friends in L.A. who were hard hit by this), and the market in general.
I would like to use the term, “KU Design will be engaged in all areas
of image capture and dissemination.” We have to be aware of the role
cell phones are playing in news reporting, blogs, vlogs, citizen
journalism, the web, etc. I would like to think that eventually, we
will have students using electron microscopes at KU MED as part of
their education.
DE: Do you have any special photo projects coming up in the near future?
GT:
We will be doing some branding work in Oregon this summer, so I hope to
spend some time building my images of the Pacific Northwest.
DE: What kind of camera equipment are you using?
GT: My
early shots from NY/LA were done on a Calumet 4x5 camera with a
Schneider lens. For many years I used a Nikon FTN 35mm camera, and
entered into the digital world in 2004 with a Canon EOS 30D with a
Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Autofocus
Lens.
To learn more about Kansas University's Photomedia program, visit
www.ku.edu/~sfa/dsgn/
CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF GREG THOMAS' IMAGES
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to the editor.
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Last Updated: Jul 10th, 2010 - 16:19:44
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Images from the Industry: Additional Articles
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