Flashes of artistic excellence are being recognized both regionally and nationally in pictures taken by Louisiana Tech School of Art photography students and professors.

Jenny Johnson, of Shreveport, had a photograph selected for publication in the winter 2009 edition of Light Leaks Magazine.

Celeste Small, of Ruston, had three black and white photographs she took for her introductory photography course in the fall chosen for publication in The Sun Magazine.

Graduate student Andy Bloxham, of Ruston, has been named the recipient of a 2009 Society for Photographic Education Student Award, which includes a $500 stipend and membership. He will receive his award at the SPE national conference in Dallas in March.

Bloxham currently has his photographs in exhibitions around the country, including The Photo Review: Best of Show at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts’ Gallery, Four Feet: The Proxemics of Personal Space at Gallery RFD in Swainsboro, Ga., 2008 North American Graduate Art Survey at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and the 6th Photographic Image Biennial Exhibition at the Wellington B. Gray Gallery at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.

“The photography professors try to find opportunities each quarter that students can submit their work to whether it is a publication or an exhibit,” said Frank Hamrick, professor of photography. “We connect what the students are working on in the course with opportunities existing outside the classroom.”

Hamrick said the goal is for students to realize their careers in photography don’t automatically start the day they receive diplomas but is a gradual process they can practice the skills for now.

“Why not start your career now instead of waiting until after graduation?” he said.

Not to be outdone by their protégés, photography professors are snapping up their own recognition. Frank Hamrick, professor of photography, and Jay Gould, assistant professor of photography, both have work in the 6th Photographic Image Biennial Exhibition, along with Bloxham.

Hamrick also has work displayed in several shows, including the Joyce Elaine Grant Exhibition at Texas Woman’s University in Denton and the 23rd Annual Texas Photographic Society’s Member’s Only Show in Beaumont, which was juried by internationally known photographer Keith Carter. Hamrick’s work is also displayed in Making It: the Art of Contemporary Craft at Gallery RFD in Swainsboro, Ga.

In addition, Hamrick’s work will once again grace the cover of Super America by Anne Panning. The paperback version of the book will be released this year. The first edition, including cover art by Hamrick, was published in 2007.

Gould received an honorable mention from the Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh for his photographic series “Rocket Science.” Gould is currently exhibiting photographs at the Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon. In March his work will be published in the spring issue of Creative Quarterly Journal.

Gould will serve as a visiting guest lecturer at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

Written by Beth Christian