Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Mitchell Born’s name. This article has been updated to reflect the correction.
Photoworks is a selection of creative works from UTD’s advanced photography students, selected and organized by Professor Marilyn Waligore. This year’s installment was held in the library’s Nebula Lounge from March 27 to April 24.
This selection is an opportunity for students to get noticed by professionals outside the classroom, articulate their own personalities through their work and show off their own personal niches whilst displaying their work next to their peers.
“I think part of it is openness to feedback and really engaging in photographing regularly. A lot of the best projects come out of that process,” Waligore said. “We ask students to reflect on what they’re interested in, what they want to say and how their work connects to what’s happening today.”
Waligore has curated the showcase for over a decade, and she has been integral in highlighting UTD student photography to the outside world, helping the exhibition gain recognition beyond campus through platforms like Yelp and Richardson Daily.
“I think the students’ work is very personal for each student, the path is very different and I think that’s what makes it kind of exciting,” Waligore said. “Visitors can see how varied the work is: some are doing portraits, others cityscapes, still life or experimental work.”
That variety is reflected in the work of the students featured in the exhibition, each bringing their own perspective and ideas into their pieces.
Justin Williams, an ATEC General Studies senior, submitted a photo that features two joker playing cards surrounded by dominoes. He describes it as a new way to look at board games. Titled “Jokes on You”, it represents the way he views the rarest card in the deck, the joker, as the focus, even though usually it doesn’t get the attention it merits as the most powerful card in most games.
“When I got the assignment, I knew that I was just gonna do my thing — which was board games. I was like every other kid who just likes to watch movies and play games,” Williams said.
At age five, he was gifted a camera by his mom to stay busy after his family moved from Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.
“When it comes to taking photos for me, I just have this vision that sticks in my mind, from something I’ve seen. I like to play with that frame until it becomes mesmerizing. That’s really what I’ve learned from still lifes as a kid.”
When Williams first went to college, he intended to become a mechanical engineer, but after realizing his lack of passion, he went back to his roots of being a creator and artist. He plans on pursuing videography and professional photography after graduation.
Mitchell Born has called Richardson home for most of his life. He originally came to UTD as an ATEC major with dreams of computer animation sparked by Toy Story, but over time he realized that path wasn’t for him. After taking a photography class as an elective, he found his true medium.
For this year’s Photoworks, Born submitted a striking image of a Chinese lion costume as a window into tradition. Born has taught martial arts for over 25 years, and the lion dance he teaches and performs at his school is about warding off evil spirits and bringing good luck.
“There’s nothing fancy about it,” he said. “I wanted to capture the actual cultural aspect.”
He submitted a photo of a lion costume performing a traditional dance, for the colors, unique shapes and representation of Chinese culture.
Born said that his interests draw towards nature and architectural photography. He likes to let the environment dictate the frame and just capture it.
“I’ll walk around or ride my bike, and I’m like, ‘There’s stillness,’ that’s what gets my attention,” he said. “You don’t have to tell [nature], ‘Stand still. Don’t fake a smile.'”
After graduation, Born plans to keep photography as a side job while working full-time. He already has a studio at his martial arts school where he plans to focus on portraits to earn more money, but his real love remains nature and travel photography.
For students like Williams and Born, these experiences are deeply personal. Williams channels a childhood spent playing board games into a meditation on power and visibility. Born draws on decades of martial arts training to preserve a cultural tradition that might otherwise be reduced to spectacle. Their work, now hanging alongside that of their peers in the Nebula Lounge, showcases the fruits of their semester in the Advanced Photography course.
