IU senior named 2009 College Photographer of the Year
As a high school student growing up in Dunkirk, Ind., James Brosher took a photo class that inspired a new hobby -- and countless hours in the dark room.
James Brosher
By his senior year of high school, Brosher was a photographer for his school newspaper and landed a photo internship at The Commercial Review for the summer before he started college at IU.
"My parents bought me my first camera. Watching me work with it was an interesting sight," said Brosher. "I'm a typical guy -- rather than reading the manual first, I spent a ton of time playing with all the controls."
Now an IU senior majoring in journalism, Brosher recently was honored with the Indiana News Photographer Association's 2009 College Photographer of the Year award.
The contest is open to both professional photographers and college students and includes awards in the categories of Photographer of the Year, Sports Photographer of the Year, Portrait-Personality and Feature Story, among others. The INPA hosted its 2009 still photo contest in Bloomington Feb. 20.
"I watched the judging from 8 a.m to 7 p.m," said Brosher. "I literally sat there all day in that room and just waited in the back row. At some points I was so nervous I almost had to get up and leave!"
Brosher said winning the award before graduation lifted his spirits. He's not sure where he will settle after receiving his bachelor's degree in May, but hopes to stay in Indiana for a while.
Photo by James Brosher
IU senior James Brosher took this photo of students having a snowball fight on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009, in Dunn Meadow. Classes were called of that day because of the weather, and Monroe County declared a state of emergency.
At IU, Brosher has worked as the photo editor for IU's Indiana Daily Student, freelanced for the Indianapolis Star and interned for local newspapers in Indiana (such as Bloomington's Herald-Times and South Bend's South Bend Tribune).
His work has been picked up by the Associated Press and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, Sacramento Bee, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Times, Honolulu Advertiser, Louisville Courier-Journal and Houston Chronicle.
"Winning the award was definitely a pick-me-up," said Brosher. "2009 was a good year for me, and 2010 is off to a good start. I'm excited to see what happens."
This story was originally published April 15, 2010.
