Isidore Mankofsky, American cinematographer and graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography, was recently honored by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) with the dedication of the library in their new Education Building to him. To make the recognition extra special, a statue of Isidore resides in the library.

Mankofsky, the tenth of twelve children of Russian immigrants, was born in the Bronx and grew up in New York and Chicago before moving to Los Angeles. He started as a motion picture photographer in news and documentaries. Fortune led him to the educational film world, where he shot hundreds of films for school audiences. You can find a full list of his credits in this area on a website devoted to the appreciation and preservation of educational films here.

He transitioned to the world of commercial film making, shooting documentaries, feature films, commercials and television where he has been recognized for the quality of his work with numerous awards and nominations for awards. A full list of his credits in this area can be found on imdb.

He is a long-time member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

On Saturday November 2, students joined artist and educator Joyce Wilson for a day of shooting, printing and plenty of inspiration. The beautiful Santa Barbara morning began with Joyce’s presentation hosted by the Arts Fund Community Gallery located in the Funk Zone. It seems like Joyce Wilson has explored all of the traditional and alternative methods of photography during her amazing career. But on this day, Joyce was focusing on the capabilities she discovered using cell phone photography and phone apps to recreate the look of alternative and vintage processes. She distributed a list of cell phone apps she uses and then shared examples of prints from images taken in the area around the gallery, including images printed to create cyanotypes. Not only did she encourage the group to find something interesting in what they saw on the street, she also discussed the layering and blending of individual shots to create a unique final image. With examples and inspiration in mind, students went out into the streets to create their own photos. The group then reconvened at Joyce’s studio for lunch and image processing on their phones. When the images were ready, they were sent to the printer with our great assistant Chris Buckpitt to produce negatives for the cyanotype printing as well as other prints on a variety of paper surfaces. Everyone went home with beautiful prints along with creative ideas fostered by Joyce Wilson’s passion for making art.

October 12 was another beautiful day for a Brooks’ Workshop, Creating a Unique Body of Work with Eliot Crowley at his studio. After a discussion about using props and symbols to create conceptual narratives, students had the opportunity to learn about modifying natural light with flash at the perfect time of day. The fantastic models contributed to the success of the experience.

Photo credit: Christopher Broughton. Models: Ine Hansen (top) and Janelle from HGM (Hello Gorgeous Models), www. hgmagency.com (bottom)
 

Last Saturday, Chris Broughton and a group of students started the rainy September day off at the Hollywood Campus of Mount Saint Mary’s University with a presentation and lecture by Chris. Then the group walked out the front door of the campus right onto Sunset Blvd, where potential images were just waiting. Walking around the neighborhood, between Sunset and Hollywood Blvds., the students put into action some of the concepts that had been presented in the classroom. Next was a break for lunch back at the campus while reviewing the morning take and then off to the metro and downtown LA for more photos at Pershing Square and Angels Flight. The workshop wound down when students and Chris returned back to the campus and again reviewed the take of the afternoon locations. Lots of great imagery with a little rain made a great day and workshop!

The Tim Meyer Workshop, Finding and Mastering Natural Light, held at the Mount Saint Mary's University campus was a great success! Students received an in-classroom presentation in the early afternoon, lunch, and then spent the rest of the afternoon until sunset shooting with our model. Tim helped students find the different qualities of natural light and, in addition, brought in ProPhoto to demonstrate some TTL techniques using electronic flash. Great class and big thanks to our partner MSMU and the beautiful downtown campus.

“I want to thank you both making making this weekend’s workshop so informative and enjoyable. I can’t wait to partake in future workshops with you.”

—Youssouf (Joe) Niang, Workshop Participant

Meeting this past weekend at Joyce Wilson’s studio, students had a full day experience starting with photographing models in the morning and then manipulating their images to create one-of-a-kind works of art in the afternoon. With input from Joyce and inspiration from examples of her work, students learned Photoshop techniques to enhance the final image. At the end of the day, students left with printed images and more creative ideas to apply to their own work.
 

Photos by workshop participants (clockwise from top left) Ken Hughes, Anne Mahr, Thomas Brostrom and John Gerngross
 
Upcoming workshops include Tim Meyer’s Finding and Mastering Natural Light, Creating a Unique Body of Work with Eliot Crowley as well as another workshop with Joyce. Visit our workshop page for enrollment and information.

EBF is happy to announce that Brooks’ Photo Workshops has formed an alliance with Mount Saint Mary's University to conduct workshops at both the Sunset Gower Studios campus and the DTLA Doheny campus.

Both of these locations will offer unique opportunities. The SGS location is the campus for the MSMU Film, Television and Photography programs and has indoor shooting spaces along with a robust equipment cage for check out. The DTLA Doheny campus offers a unique exterior location as it is home to the historic Doheny Mansion.

MSMU was the main provider for many students of Brooks Institute when the owners decided to close the school on very short notice in the Fall of 2016. Not only did MSMU provide a method for a “teach out,” they brought on board many of the Brooks faculty to teach as adjuncts to those affected students.

Along with the “teach out,” MSMU also continues to house much of the Brooks archives that the Brooks Alumni Association was able to retrieve before those items were to be thrown in the trash, thus preserving much of the artifacts of the Brooks legacy.

The first workshop will be on the grounds of the MSMU Doheny Campus on September 14th with Tim Meyer’s Finding and Mastering Natural Light. Registration is now open on our workshops page.

DOHENY LOCATION   |   SUNSET GOWER LOCATION

This past weekend, the Foundation’s Brooks Photo Workshop series launched with former Brooks Institute faculty member, Tim Meyer. The one-day workshop, Finding and Mastering Natural Light, was held at a wonderful location in the front foothills of Santa Barbara on a picture-perfect day. Upcoming workshops include Alternative Photography Techniques with Joyce Wilson and Creating a Unique Body of Work with Eliot Crowley. For more information or to enroll, visit our workshops page.

Our second Brooks at UCSB class, Visualizing Our Natural World, taught by Ralph Clevenger, held the last of its six classes on Saturday, March 16.

Steven Chang, recipient of an EBF Scholarship for this class, said, “Ralph generously shared his knowledge and passion for nature photography with us, making this course fun as well as valuable. As a result, I feel I will create better photos. Here are two taken during the critter demo—a highlight of the course:”

And from another student, Norm Spieler: “I think, like many things, you don't really appreciate what you have experienced until after you have had a chance to reflect on it. And for me, that certainly was the case with the extraordinary event that Ralph made happen last Saturday. As I was reviewing the pictures, it just became more and more apparent how special the day was, from the location and setting, to the fact that Ralph had arranged it with animals that most of us would never see, other than looking at other’s pictures. So, again, thank you very much.”

The Ernest Brooks Foundation is proud to announce that noted Santa Barbara educator Guy D. Smith has joined its Governing Board.

Mr. Smith, who is currently executive director of SynED, a firm which provides higher education consulting services, was previously chairman of the BA program at Antioch University in Santa Barbara. He was also affiliated with Santa Barbara City College for 34 years, serving as dean of educational programs, director of the School of Media Arts, and longtime professor and division chair of the English Department, among other positions.

He says, “Working with The Ernest Brooks Foundation to help bring the Brooks’ name back to its roots in Santa Barbara is an honor as well as a worthy challenge.”

Mr. Smith is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, and the author of many articles on education and the media. A resident of Montecito, he is married with two children.

The exhibit, Through-line: Brooks Institute, a culture for photographic education opened on January 25th at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara. Present at the opening night reception were artists Chris Broughton, Christy Gutzeit, and Ralph Clevenger, who were greeted by a number of former faculty, staff, and alumni; Clockwise from left, Eliot Crowley, Bill Robbins, Marcia Rubenstein, Chris Broughton, Ralph Clevenger, Greg Voight, Scott Miles, George Ayoub, Christy Gutzeit, and Chuck Place. Through-line is showing through March 6.

The Ernest Brooks Foundation is proud to award their first Scholarship to Misael Marcial for Chris Broughton’s Photo Boot Camp, offered through the new Brooks at UCSB program. In an email, Misael wrote, “Thank you! I am grateful for the opportunity to be in Mr. Broughton's class with the Foundation’s support. After attending the first class, I am certain I will learn valuable photography skills from him.”
 

The Ernest Brooks Foundation will continue to award two $250 scholarships for each class offered through Brooks at UCSB. For more information about our scholarships and to apply, download our scholarship application form. 

Photo Boot Camp, taught by Christopher Broughton held it’s inaugural class on Saturday, January 12th with 22 students in attendance. It was a great beginning to classes — the room was full and Chris did a masterful job. There wasn‘t a lull in the momentum — as Chris covered so much material, he would pause to say, “our heads are probably going to explode but its OK.”  

Ralph Clevenger, Christopher Broughton and Christy Gutzeit (above, left to right),

three of our Brooks at UCSB instructors, will be featured in an event presented by the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara. “Through-line: Brooks Institute, a culture for photographic education” is an exhibition which looks at the experience of the school through the art of three alumni who became educators, bringing with them pieces of the Brooks’ legacy to be passed on in their own classrooms.

The Opening Reception with the artists will be held on Friday, January 25 from 5–7 pm. All are welcome. The AFSB Gallery is located in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Regular gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and by appointment (please contact the Executive Director at 805-965-6307). More information about the event here.