Instructor
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Brian Benedetti I've been asked to tell more about how I got started in photography, well… It all really started for me when I was an exchange student in Mexico and someone stole my lousy 110 camera. My friend loaned me his 35mm camera and I've been hooked ever since. In college I took a photo class then got hired to be a student college photographer. I loved the college environment and decided I wanted to work for a college and freelance on the side. That's what I've been doing ever since. I'm the District Media Director for Pierce College, I teach photography classes, and I have been freelancing in photography and video for almost 30 years. Through the years I freelanced for various companies like Safeco Insurance, the San Diego Chargers, Alaska Sight-Seeing Tours, Sports Illustrated, Pacific Northwest Bell, the NBA and the News Tribune. I've photographed many weddings and taken group and individual portraits. Presently I am involved more in travel photography. The past few months I was photographing in New Mexico as well as eastern Europe and will soon be leading a photo group to Costa Rica. My fascination for black and white photography led me to studying the work of Ansel Adams. I bought a Graflex 4x5 camera and attended advanced trainings in photography, including Ansel Adams workshops in New York and Yosemite. Throughout the years I continued to teach traditional black and white photography at Pierce College and Green River Community College. While spending untold hours in the darkroom, dodging and burning and trying to perfect each individual print, a new phenomenon occurred...Photoshop! While I loved the darkroom work, I appreciated how Photoshop could simplify darkroom techniques while opening up countless other creative possibilities in the world of photography. Digital Photography became a new obsession for me and for the last seven years I have been teaching it at Pierce College. As many of you know, while trying to create your own art, you often get sidetracked trying to make a living. Although I work around creative media, I found less time for creating my own photographs. I have made a concerted effort to change that. It's all a balance. I mention this because we're all in this together. We all need to find balance in order to work in a way that still leaves us time to do our art, be with family and friends, and be healthy people. Luckily photography is readily available to us all. You just have to make yourself available to it. Carrying your camera with you every day, just as you do your wallet or purse, is the best way to get started. I've gotten a lot out of my years in photography and I try to give something back. One way to do this is through teaching. I am looking forward to sharing some of my expertise as well as learning from you. For me personally, photography has been my one creative constant.
I am fascinated with the harmonious relationship of color, form,
line and texture. I'm amazed at the tale that one single frozen-moment-in-time
can tell. I find myself in situations and places I would never be
in if it wasn’t for the camera. After all of these years it
still feels like magic to me.
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