Paul Bryan has been A&M-Commerce’s new photographer for less than two weeks, but he already loves the sleepy little town and its campus.
“I like universities in general, because they’re always really fresh,” Bryan said. “There’s always new people coming, people learning – and that mindset is really nice to be around. It’s a business, but the concentration here is not on making money; it’s education. It’s really a nice environment to be in.”
Bryan grew up in McClain, Va., near Washington, D.C, where he graduated from McClain High School.
It was in high school Bryan discovered his passion for photography.
“In high school I got really interested [in photography]; I did some stuff for the paper,” Bryan said. “I learned portrait photography from my neighbor.”
Things seemed to fall into place for him then, learning skills from his neighbor Laura Pierson, a skilled portrait photographer who he considers a mentor.
“I’ve always loved photography,” Bryan said. “I’ve always wanted to do it professionally.”
He later moved to Texas and received a bachelor’s of fine arts degree, with an emphasis in graphic design from Abilene Christian University. He majored in graphic design because it was the closest thing he could get to photography.
“I started out learning black-and-white photography, and switched to digital in college,” Bryan said. “But most of my classes were in graphic design.”
Upon graduation he returned to the privately funded University to work.
“When I got out of college I got a job at the University, at ACU, as a graphic designer,” Bryan said. “I was there for about a year and a half. Over that time I did more photography for publications that we were doing, and decided that I liked photography more. I left that position and started working as a freelance photographer.”
He’d been doing freelance work up until he found out about the available University position.
“I like it [Commerce and A&M-C],” Bryan said. “I like it a lot. It’s really nice here.”
Bryan is currently familiarizing himself with the campus and its people, and likes what he sees.
“I’m excited about this university, because it’s changing a lot right now,” Bryan said. “I see a lot of really good changes happening here. They’re giving the University a fresher look, and I hope to be part of that image.”
Bryan is also excited about the Marketing and Communications department he’s joined, which according to him is fairly new.
“It’s going to be a great place to work,” he said. “We have great computers, great cameras, and great people. We’re really trying to work on service. We’re really service orientated.”
They are currently working on a Web site that will allow individuals to request and track jobs easily.
“We’re working on redesigning the whole thing,” Bryan said.
Bryan attends the Church of Christ in Paris, where his girlfriend, Ashley Francis, lives and owns a shop downtown called Pigeon’s Daughter, which sells fine art home décor.
“I love it,” Bryan said. “It’s a real jewel [Pigeon’s daughter].”
Bryan also enjoys tinkering with old computers in his free time.
“I like to put them back together and get them working again,” he said.
Not only is he a self-made computer nerd, but he considers himself to be an outdoorsman.
“I’m learning how to hunt,” Bryan said. “And I really want to learn how to rock climb.”
Also for leisure, Bryan has taken up the more unique art of unicycling.
“It took me a year to learn,” he said. “A lot of my friends do mountain unicycling, where they go up to the mountains and unicycle, but I’m not really that good yet. I’m working towards it.”
“I really want to get a larger wheel. The larger the wheel is the faster you can go without really paddling very fast. I’d like to get one, so I could ride to work,” Bryan said.
Bryan is currently looking for student workers interested in photography to work with him. He would prefer them to be lowerclassmen, so as to have more time to develop their skills.
These individuals will be offered minimum wage. Anyone interested can contact Bryan at Paul_Bryan@tamu-commerce.edu.