Marketing

Indiana University President Pamela Whitten

October 6, 2021

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to make a few portraits of Indiana University President Pamela Whitten for the cover of the Indiana University Alumni Magazine. Whitten was in town for meetings before officially taking office, giving us a chance to snag her for a quick six-minute photo shoot. My colleague Chris Meyer and I worked with folks from the magazine to scout locations that morning, allowing us to quickly run her through four different “looks” near the front entrance of the Indiana Memorial Union. To light President Whitten I used a Flashpoint (Godox) XPLOR 600 fired into a Westcott 7-foot Parabolic Umbrella, a pandemic lighting gear purchase that has quickly become my go-to modifier because of the soft, wrap-around light it creates.

Indiana University President-Elect Pamela S. Whitten poses for a portrait outside the Indiana Memorial Union at IU Bloomington on Thursday, May 6, 2021. (James Brosher/Indiana University)

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IU dedicates newly-constructed Mies van der Rohe building

June 30, 2021

Earlier this month, Indiana University formally dedicated a building based on designs by legendary modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Mies originally designed the structure in 1952 to be a fraternity house for the Alpha Theta chapter of Pi Lambda Phi. The fraternity abandoned the project and the little-known designs were largely forgotten. In 2013, Sidney Eskenazi, a former member of the fraternity, related the story to IU President Michael A. McRobbie, kicking off a search for the designs. The search uncovered the designs and eventually led to the building’s construction thanks in large part to a $20 million gift to the school from Sidney and Lois Eskenazi. Once completed this fall, the approximately 10,000-square-foot building will be a shared facility for the IU Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.

Architect Dirk Lohan, second from right, gestures as he tours the courtyard of a building designed originally by his grandfather, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, before its dedication at Indiana University Bloomington on Thursday, June 17, 2021. (James Brosher/Indiana University)

A student walks past the site of a new Architecture building originally designed by Mies van der Rohe at Indiana University Bloomington on Monday, April 12, 2021. (James Brosher/Indiana University)

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Indiana University commencements

June 2, 2021

When we started planning our team’s coverage of Indiana University’s commencement ceremonies back in March, I challenged my colleagues to “photograph the weird”. Things are weird. Document it. Document the history. My unit’s primary focus is marketing, but I have felt a big, self-assigned responsibility since the beginning of the pandemic to make sure our 200-year-old university’s history is captured. After all, I don’t anticipate much of a shelf life for marketing photos featuring masks and social distancing if the pandemic ends.

I photographed five commencement ceremonies this year. After two ceremonies here in Bloomington, I traveled to IU regional campuses in Kokomo, South Bend and Gary. The ceremonies were held without audience members in attendance making for a striking visual component to each ceremony. Commencement is arguably a university’s most important ritual – and typically one of the most photographed. By documenting it this year I hope my photos will stand in contrast to those taken in “normal times”.

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Pamela S. Whitten introduced as Indiana University’s 19th president

April 28, 2021

Indiana University President-Elect Pamela S. Whitten speaks during a press conference at IU Bloomington on Friday, April 16, 2021. (James Brosher/Indiana University)

Indiana University President-Elect Pamela S. Whitten, left, and IU Director of Media Relations Chuck Carney walk across the IU Bloomington campus to Bryan House on Friday, April 16, 2021. (James Brosher/Indiana University)

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Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University

October 7, 2020

The Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University is pictured on a fall evening on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Architect I.M. Pei designed the building. (James Brosher/Indiana University)

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