A series of unconventional portraits of faculty members from UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies has earned international recognition from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Published last summer by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS) in a book promoting its graduate studies programs, the images have earned the Bronze Award in the CASE Juried Awards Competition, vying with photography and illustrations produced by universities and colleges from throughout Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
“The photos are works of art — they draw you in and really help communicate the distinctiveness of our faculty,” says Robert Belton, an art historian and Dean of Creative and Critical Studies. “We wanted to feature some of our professors in ways that reflect their unique interests and areas of expertise. That’s not easy to do visually, but our team pulled it off beautifully.”
Most of the award-winning photos were taken by Kelowna-based freelance photographer Tim Swanky, who has worked on a wide variety of projects for the university. Margo Yacheshyn, UBC Okanagan’s in-house designer, served as art director on the project and, for some of the images, prepared composite images to achieve effects not possible in the camera — such as putting the same person in two different places in a picture.
“This juried awards competition attracts more than 500 entries each year,” notes Bonnie Bates Gibbs, Director of Alumni and Community Relations. “It’s very gratifying to see the talent we have here at UBC Okanagan recognized by peers from other post-secondary institutions.”
An electronic copy of the FCCS Graduate Studies book can be viewed on the FCCS Grad Studies website at www.ubc.ca/okanagan/creativeandcritical/gradstudies.html.
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