Major Mentors: Tim Barber, Ryan McGinley & Laurel Nakadate at the School of Visual Art

This semester, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the School of Visual Arts Mentors program, which pairs photo students with several incredible mentors, giving them the opportunity to discuss, collaborate, and produce a piece or series for their final folio. Our mentors included OC friends Tim Barber and Ryan McGinley, as well as Kathy Ryan (The New York Times Magazine director of photography), Yossi Milo (Yossi Milo Gallery founder), Suzanne Donaldson (Glamour magazine photo director and my mentor!), and photographers Stephan Shore, Laurel Nakadate, and Elinor Carucci.

Friday night's show, marking the end of the program, was the biggest one they've had yet. The exhibition extended beyond photography and included mixed media sculptures as well as short films and documentaries that were projected onto the walls. I presented a portion of my series, SGM: a project that began as something which explored the relationship between my father and I but evolved into a study of the US military uniform and war photography.

My friend Meghan Benson produced a really great portfolio with her mentor Chris Austopchuk: it features portraits of Pharrell Williams and Wiz Khalifa. I also liked Frankie Corino's Anf#069—a long abstract print that begins at the ceiling and falls to the ground where it U-turns back up the wall. Equally as engaging is Ilona Szwarc's series, American Girls, which focuses on girls and their dolls. Congrats, everyone!

Through March 31, 2013

VISUAL ARTS GALLERY
601 West 26 St
15th Floor
MAP