| Speaker Background |
Jean Santopatre
Inspired by Ansel
Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson, I began shooting and studying photography
when I was12 years old. I studied photojournalism in the S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and graduated
in 1978 with a B.S. in photojournalism and minor in geology.
In April 1979, I landed a job at the Brooks Community Newspapers in Westport, Connecticut. I was chief photographer for the Darien News-Review in 1985, when I left to pursue a freelance career; I counted Gannett Westchester Newspapers, the Danbury News-Times, the Hartford Courant, and the New York Times Among my clients. I spent the summer of 1983 working as a photographer for Bergens Tidende, a Norwegian daily newspaper in Bergen, Norway.
After a very successful year as a freelance photographer, I was asked to join
Bike For Peace '86, and embarked on a five week, documentary bike tour with cyclists
from the United States, Canada, The Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia to promote
peace and goodwill. We met up in Presov, Czechoslovakia and cycled to Prague,
then flew to Montreal and cycled to the United Nations in New York City.
Remarkably, three days after this trip ended, I started as a staff photographer for The Norwalk Hour. After spending 6months on a night shift there, I went to the Bridgeport Post Telegram, now the Connecticut Post. I stayed at the Connecticut Post for 14 years, working for nine years as a staff photographer and five years as photo editor. I joined the Public Relations team at Fairfield University as University photojournalist in December 2000.
Here at Fairfield, I photograph for the alumni magazine, Fairfield Now; our staff/faculty newspaper, Campus Currents; the University website; as well as special events, lectures, and Commencement. I have taken a Maine Photographics Lighting Workshop with Joe McNally to hone my lighting skills. I am currently earning a masters in Educational Technology here at Fairfield University, and I also teach photojournalism as an adjunct professor.
At Fairfield, I have become a part of the university community in co-leading Mission Trips to the Passamaquoddy Reservation in Maine, and as a mentor in the Ignatian Residential College. |
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