2022 Annual
We are excited to host a series of on-site face-to-face portfolio reviews, and Zoom website reviews with top Industry and Academic Professionals. Critical review as our seniors present their year-long projects and embark into the professional workspace.
Reviews by Industry and Academic Professionals:
Tamara Cedré - Artist, Photographer, Educator - Los Angeles, CA
Zach Cordner - Photographer & Creative Director, Riversider Magazine - Riverside, CA
Veronica Cotter - Education Development USA, Hahnemühle FineArt - Los Angeles, CA
Wendy Fisk - Freelance Project Manager + Producer, Executive Director - APA San Diego, CA
Valerie Fox - Creative Director, Photo Studio Operations Consultant, Photographer - Los Angeles, CA + Phoenix, AZ
Mollie Jannasch - Agency Director, Agency MJ - Nashville, TN
Dennis Keeley - Former Chair of Photography and Imaging, Art Center College of Design - Pasadena, CA
Thomas McGovern - Professor of Art and Design (Photography) - California State University, San Berardino
Megan O'Brien - Creative Director, MO Creative & Production - San Diego, CA
Elizabeth Pojé - Photography Rep, Elizabeth Pojé + Associates - Los Angeles, CA
Julie Skarwecki - Photo Consultant, Julie Skarwecki Consulting - Los Angeles, CA
Bill Thompson - Founder, Principal Photographer, Pencilbox - Orange, CA
Karen Williams - Freelance Photo Director, Producer, Editor, Researcher - San Francisco, CA
Thankful to these professionals for offering their precious time to the Program and the next generation of Photographic Professionals.
Tamara Cedré is a photographer, artist, and educator. She completed her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art with a research emphasis in critical studies and lens-based media. She uses photography as a personal, political tool of documentation, working collaboratively with her subjects to bring visibility to conditions that often go unseen. For this project, she wanted to create a community work that highlighted the struggles of her neighbors living through a pandemic with perseverance.
As co-director of the creative studio Rivercane Media, she is excited about continuing her documentary work as an image-maker. Her upcoming book, set to be published in 2022, mines historical and personal archives that articulate diasporic identity shaped by the colonial status of her family’s homeland of Puerto Rico.
Zach Cordner is a Photographer and Creative Director who has been documenting the underground music scene since the '90s. Zach has also shot everything from hip-hop and pop artists to celebrities throughout his career. An in-demand commercial photographer, the California-based music head has worked with such companies as Simon & Schuster, Vans, and PETA.
Veronica Cotter is the Education Development and Western Region Manager, Hahnemühle USA. Veronica has been in the Photo & Imaging Industry for thirty-plus years. Her career began in analog, working for companies that produced high-end B&W films and papers. Her current position with Hahnemühle USA provides the opportunity to connect with image-makers to discuss the importance of printing and paper choice.
Wendy Fisk has worked in various roles within the San Diego creative industry for over 15 years managing projects, marketing, and production for various clients. She has also served as Executive Director for a non-profit photography organization (American Photographic Artists) for over 5 years.
Valerie Fox is an accomplished lifestyle, apparel, children’s, and still life photographer based in both Arizona and California. She has been known to tromp through swamps, climb the tops of sand dunes, charm distressed babies, and hang precariously from ceilings in order to get the right shot. Fox’s experience as a creative director continues to shape both her graphic sensibilities and her collaborative approach to photography.
Her imagery has been seen around the world on billboards, major retail storefronts, magazines, and catalogs. Her professional experience in studio production and management has been heard in global studio conferences and featured in online webinars.
Most importantly, clients agree her warmth and humor bring ease to the production and crew while effortlessly executing the shoot.
Mollie Jannasch, after cutting her teeth at Art + Commerce in New York City, set out to engage with a community of visual artists whose exceptional talent is equaled by their enthusiasm for the creative process. She began building Agency MJ in 2009.
Located in Nashville, TN - Agency MJ is a full-service production house collaborating with artists & brands to create amazing content worldwide. Additionally, they build, manage, and secure operations for each unique project. Their passion is to create and connect the best talent teams together to yield incredible results.
For each project, Agency MJ assembles a multi-talented team to fully execute concepts combined with decades of experience in production and creative execution.
Dennis Keeley works as an artist, photographer, teacher, and writer. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous one-person and group shows and he is published internationally in books and studies concerning the urban circumstance. He has works in the permanent collections at LACMA, MOCA, the J. Paul Getty Center Trust, and Conservation and Research Institutes and was commissioned by the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. In 2016 he was chosen by Month of Photography Los Angeles (MOPLA) to exhibit his portraits of musicians in a solo exhibition entitled, “25 Years of Music.”
Dennis Keeley is former Chair of the Photography and Imaging Program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and has served on the Board of Directors at Angel's Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro, CA for more than ten years.
Thomas McGovern is a photographer, writer, and professor at California State University in San Bernardino. McGovern was an editorial photographer in New York and worked as the photo editor at The Village Voice until the mid-1990s. Bearing Witness (to AIDS) is a series of photographs as well as a publication depicting the AIDS crisis, which McGovern documented from 1987 to 1999. His works are powerful portraits and moving scenes from the time when AIDS and AIDS activism dominated the cultural and political dialogue.
He is the author of several other publications, including Amazing Grace: Worship at Two African American Evangelical Churches (2010) and HARD BOYS + BAD GIRLS (2010), about young people with mundane jobs who live out their fantasies through professional wrestling, were both published in 2010. From 2007 to 2013, McGovern collaborated with poet Juan Delgado on Vital Signs, a book about hand-painted signs and murals throughout Southern California.
Megan O'Brien is a freelance Creative Director, partnering with brands (start-up to established) to bring their authenticity and uniqueness to life through powerful imagery, original storytelling, and sound photography. E-commerce as her specialty w/over 500 successful photo shoots to date. She consults on what elevates and showcases products + services best, and her energy brings out the best collaboration for all on-set. Clients include; Levi Strauss & Co., Dockers, GAP, Ariat, Torrid, Champion, Hanes, Maidenform, Manduka Yoga , Le Tote, Figs and more!
Elizabeth Pojé, has been in business for over 20 years, representing a diverse group of award-winning Photographers, Directors, and CGI artists who collaborate with Agencies & Brands to produce stunning Visual Imagery.
Julie Skarwecki is a commercial photography professional with almost a decade of experience in the industry working directly with artists and advertising agencies, editorial clients, and Fortune 500 companies. After getting started as a studio assistant and production coordinator to photographer and filmmaker Alex Prager, she moved on as a commercial agent representing award-winning photographers and illustrators across the United States and in Europe.
As an agent, she helped artists define their personal brands, strengthen their portfolios, connect with photo editors and art buyers, and successfully target their ideal clients using strategic marketing and promotional tactics.
Bill Thompson is a design photographer who specializes in shooting people for clients in the automotive, financial, healthcare, medical device, and non-profits/foundations industries. He is the founder of Pencilbox Studios a collaborative studio of creative principals and partners who work together to create concept-driven communication solutions that extend beyond the expected while building strong partnerships with clients. And board member of AIGA-OC.
Karen Williams is a freelance Photo Director, Producer, and Visual Storyteller with 10+ years’ experience at major media and brands. She has created and art-directed images for prime brands and media, including Square, Airbnb, AARP, MasterClass, Wired, and San Francisco Magazine. Having produced hundreds of photo shoots, spanning the entire creative process from securing talent to onsite logistics to post-production. A has stepped into leading photo departments and visual aesthetics, managing all collaborations with creative teams and photographers.