Glyphs of Time :: a blog by jarvis grant

March 21, 2010

Assistant to Photographer…

Filed under: Education,Inspiration,Observations,Photography — Jarvo @ 1:46 am

I was drifting off to the Land of Nod, when a saw a photograph of Jerry Uelsmann by John Paul Caponigro, two of my favorite photographers. I noticed the shot was at PDN (Photo District News). So, I moseyed on over there to check it out. I figured it would be a good blog post. Well as I was looking though the multimedia section, my jaw just dropped! I saw one of my former Howard University students being highlighted, Piper Carter. As a student Piper was one of those students you love to have in your Photography I class. Full of energy and ready to go!

Now mind you Piper was taking this class as an elective, and her work wasn’t super strong, but I saw that spark. She was always in the darkroom picking my brain and shooting, shooting, shooting. I told her this seems like more than a passing thing, and if she ever considered being a photographer. She looked at me and said; “ME! ME be a photographer? What would I have to do?” I said, ” Get better and study seriously.” Well, later she came to my office and announced she was going to be a photographer! She was leaving Howard University and going back to NYC. She had that serious look on her face that students get when you know they’re about to meet the world head on. I gave her some professorial words of encouragement, that boiled down to “Don’t Give Up!”, responded that she wouldn’t, and  marched out my door for the last time.

Well, here she is!

As an art/photography educator, it makes me proud to see this transformation. From a kid amazed by their first roll of Tri-X or DMAX 400 to a mature professional sporting an impressive client list.  IN New York City no less! Well done, Ms. Carter. And to think this is just the start of her career. Well done, indeed.

PS: PDN was being such a Pain in the Ass about the license right for “publishing that photo of Jerry Ulesmann by JP Caponigro it wasn’t woth putting it up here, but click here for the link to  the link,  20 Most Influential Photographers.

 
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2 Comments »

  1. I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
    Very interesting posts and well written.
    I will put your site on my blogroll.
    🙂

    Comment by Randy Pena — March 21, 2010 @ 1:55 am

  2. Glyphs of Time:Piper Carter has found her voice.Thanks for sharing her story with many more chapters to come.

    Comment by Joanne Henson — March 25, 2010 @ 4:04 pm

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