Gasson Hall as seen from Linden Lane鈥攐ne of thousands of images of the University's signature building captured by Gary Gilbert during his 涩里番下载 career.
Gary Wayne Gilbert, director of photography in the Office of University Communications, leaves 涩里番下载 this summer after more than three decades of capturing its people, places, and events through innumerable camera lenses.
His photographs appear across campus websites and walls, and in a host of publications including 涩里番下载 Magazine, for which he served as photo editor, as well as 涩里番下载 Chronicle, admission viewbooks, annual reports, and two books: one a study of the University鈥檚 distinctive stained-glass windows, the other an illustrated history published in celebration of 涩里番下载鈥檚 sesquicentennial anniversary. He鈥檚 earned Awards of Excellence from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and his work has been featured in Communication Arts magazine.
Gilbert recently reflected on a career spent putting the 涩里番下载 campus, and community, into focus. His final photograph as a 涩里番下载 employee is the self-portrait that accompanies this interview.
How did your interest in photography evolve?
When I was very young, I had a plastic Kodak Brownie camera, and a small set-up in the sink to develop film and make contact prints. There was something magical about the whole process of capturing a moment in time as a two-dimensional image. I was fortunate to attend Rhode Island School of Design at a time when the department chair was Harry Callahan鈥攚ho would later win the National Medal of Arts鈥攁nd one of the faculty members was Aaron Siskind. Both were very accomplished, and a long list of others with distinguished credentials would come to RISD and spend a week or so going to classes and critiquing student work鈥攑hotographers like Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, whose work you now see in museums.
Self-portrait in Gasson Hall, June 24, 2019. (Gary Wayne Gilbert)
And after RISD? What led you to the Heights?
I graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree; I was interested in pursuing photography as an art form. But I also had to make a living, so I did freelance work in the Providence area, while also working in art galleries and commercial studios. For a while I managed a frame shop; I still enjoy making my own frames. One day in 1985, I came across an ad for a photographer position at 涩里番下载. To be honest, I hadn鈥檛 heard of 涩里番下载 prior to that; but I was curious to see what working for a university would be like.
At 涩里番下载, you鈥檝e taken campus landscapes, architectural photos, portraits, candids鈥攁ny preference?
I tend to favor portraiture and still lifes, where you can really craft the images. I prefer making, not taking, photos. It鈥檚 challenging and exciting, especially when the photo is set in an interesting or unusual place鈥攚hether it's a beautiful Gothic building on campus, or Christie鈥檚 auction house or Google headquarters in Manhattan, or a sound stage at Universal Studios in LA. 涩里番下载 offers such a broad range of subject matter. I love history and the arts, and photography related to the sciences is always intriguing. For the latest issue of 涩里番下载 Magazine, I worked with the art director , which was great fun.
What have been some of the more enjoyable aspects of the job?
The campus is so beautiful, and the Collegiate Gothic architecture is so impressive, it鈥檚 hard to imagine a better environment in which to craft images. I've had access to some areas that many people don鈥檛 get to see鈦犫�攊ncluding the view from the very top of Gasson Tower during its renovation. Also, there are so many treasures in the University Archives, Burns Library, and the McMullen Museum. Photographers are lucky to have the opportunity to work with rare things鈥擨鈥檝e handled a first-edition printing, from 1613, of a book of scientific treatises by Galileo, a copy of Isaac Newton鈥檚 Principia, and even a Mesopotamian tablet [dated from 2100鈥�2000 B.C.]. 听I鈥檓 used to wearing white gloves a lot.
While most of the work was on campus, I was fortunate to be able to travel for some special assignments: to London, Rome and the Vatican, a Native American reservation in Arizona, the Florida Keys, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Executive Office of the White House, among other places.
And, of course, there鈥檚 been the opportunity to photograph such a variety of faculty, staff, and students, as well as alumni and visitors鈥攆rom Tip O鈥橬eill [Thomas P. O鈥橬eill, Jr. 鈥�36], Barbara Bush, and Rep. John Lewis to David McCullough and Bruce Springsteen. It's always interesting. To better frame a photograph of [conservative commentator] Anne Coulter, I had to ask if she could move a little to the left. She didn't laugh.
Also, during the last two years, I鈥檝e been happy to help showcase 涩里番下载 photography as artwork on campus鈦犫�攆or the Office of Undergraduate Admission, the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, and Lyons Dining Hall.
Transforming Light: The Stained Glass Windows of 涩里番下载 was one of your most important assignments. How did that come about?
I had used the windows in Bapst and Gasson and St. Mary鈥檚 as backdrops for many portraits, and always tried to choose the one that best suited the subject, which required looking closely at them. Their artistry and detail is fascinating, as is their range: windows depicting religion, poetry, fine arts, political science, law, medicine, and more. I proposed that 涩里番下载 do a book about them, and was thrilled when it became an actual project. Executing it was challenging, however: the windows are very tall, some as high as 30 feet, which required using a rolling platform ladder to get close enough to shoot the individual panes. I arrived at 涩里番下载 with a fear of heights, but had to get over that. And the weather had to cooperate: cloudy days provided the best lighting; interior illumination wouldn鈥檛 have the same effect. It was very important to me to get it right, to be true to the artists鈥� work.
You also worked on The Heights: An Illustrated History of 涩里番下载, published for the University鈥檚 sesquicentennial.
Working with historic photographs and objects and collaborating with such a gifted team鈥攅ditor, historian, and designer鈥攚as a great experience. For that project, I had the opportunity to serve as both photographer and art director, which is an unusual dual role. The biggest challenge was creating 25 one- or two-page still life illustrations. The subject matter for more than one of them was books, yet all the photographs had to look different.
What strikes you about the university you鈥檝e spent nearly 35 years photographing?
It鈥檚 changed tremendously, of course, and to document that has been not only fun, but a privilege. 涩里番下载 is a great university with a great mission; I truly believe that. I鈥檝e appreciated being able to help advance, in some small way, an institution striving to do good in the world.
Most of all, though, it鈥檚 the people who鈥檝e made it such a pleasure. I鈥檝e been lucky to work with so many talented and creative and genuinely nice people, especially the photography team and other colleagues in the former Office of Marketing Communications and now University Communications. And the Jesuits鈥擣r. Leahy [University President William P. Leahy, S.J.]; Fr. Monan, 听[former 涩里番下载 president and chancellor J. Donald Monan, S.J.]; Fr. Neenan, [former academic vice president William B. Neenan, S.J.] who officiated at my wedding [to University Communications senior director Patricia Delaney]; Fr. Barth [former College of Arts and Sciences dean J. Robert Barth, S.J.,]; Frs. Donovan and Duffy [former University Historian Charles F. Donovan, S.J.; Joseph P. Duffy, S.J., former University Secretary]鈥攁nd more recently, Fr. Beaumier [current vice president, University Secretary, and Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies director Casey Beaumier, S.J.], among many others. I never had an understanding of the Jesuit tradition until I came to 涩里番下载, and it was through these friends, to quote Fr. Neenan, that I came to appreciate what was at the core of the 涩里番下载 experience.
What鈥檚 next for you?
I鈥檓 returning to my original interest in photography as an art form. I have a project I鈥檓 very excited about, and I鈥檒l freelance a bit as well. I鈥檒l always be a photographer.
University Communications | June 2019
May 16, 2013: Near the statue of St. Ignatius by Higgins Hall, a photo shoot of 涩里番下载's sesquicentennial graduating class. (Video by Ravi Jain, Ryan Newton) 听
September 25, 2015: Near Devlin Hall, a photo shoot on Parents' Weekend. . (Video by Ravi Jain)
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