Fun Times At Barry College

One of the young reporters that I'd worked with at the North Dade Journal got a job as director of public relations at nearby Barry College in Miami Shores. I soon started getting asignments to shoot for Barry. These ranged all over the spectrum from simple mug shots of a new faculty member to the college president showing some national politician around the campus. When I first started there it was a Catholic girls college and everybody was white. Over a period of a decade or so I photographed the first male student and the first black student while gradually the student body also became more Protestant and more Jewish.

Most of what I shot was used in the school newspaper or sent out as press releases to the media. That meant shooting black and white, but every few months I'd get asked to do some color shots for a brochure or alumni news magazine. This shot was in front of the new library building, probably about 1980. It's located in the center of the campus, and yes, there are a few guys in the picture. And yes, it's a set up shot with the people told where to stand. I shot it on Ektachrome with a Leica M4 and a 35mm Summicron lens

I managed to last through several public relations directors at Barry but eventually they hired one who wanted to continue using a photographer that he'd used at his last position. The ride at Barry lasted for sixteen years. Balancing that was the fact that several former Barry PR directors continued to use me at their new jobs.

Barry has grown a lot. It's now Barry University, not college. The library has a nice art collection, and several framed prints of my Miccosukee Indian photographs are hanging on the walls.