Michael Peres reflects on his 39 years at RIT
After 39 years of teaching in RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, Professor Michael Peres says that he is most proud of the relationships he’s made with his students and colleagues over the years. As he looks toward retirement on June 30, he fondly recalls the memories he’s made on campus. Peres has made many contributions to the College of Art and Design and the larger RIT community since joining the university in 1986—and his time at RIT was marked by many “firsts.” Peres was a founding member of the RIT Big Shot team and worked on the first Big Shot in 1987. A book he co-produced, called Images from Science, was the first publication of the Cary Graphic Arts Press, now known as RIT Press. He also taught RIT’s first distance-learning course in photography, long before the advent of Zoom and other tools that make distance learning more seamless. Peres was the recipient of the RIT Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2003, which recognizes faculty members who excel at teaching and enhance student learning. He also received the College of Art and Design’s Gitner Prize and the Frank J. Romano Prize for Publishing Entrepreneurship. Another highlight of his career, he says, was serving as editor-in-chief for the Focal Encyclopedia of Photography 4th edition. Below are some reflections Peres shared about his time at RIT. How have you grown as an educator since you started at RIT? Peres joked that while he had two children at home, his campus family included the many students who sought his guidance and support over the years. Photo Credit: Michael Peres
My teaching at the beginning of my career was very fact based. But with experience, I started to realize there were so many more important lessons that needed to come from my being in the classroom. Lessons about working with others, problem solving, critical thinking, and professional practices. It wasn’t just about the specific subject itself, but about the personal learning. Seeing the evolution from an 18-year-old starting college to earning a Ph.D. or M.D. or growing into leadership roles has been a great gift for me. But, I think I’ve learned more from my 39 years here than I might have taught. My fascination with photographing snowflakes was inspired by a student named Emily Marshall, who graduated in 2003. She saw an exhibition by Wilson Bentley, a snowflake photographer, and came back to campus saying she wanted to photograph a snowflake. I had never photographed a snowflake and, initially, I was a little hesitant. But I reached out to her the next day, and we set up a microscope in the breezeway between Booth and Gannett halls. It didn't work out at all, but we learned an awful lot. Now, over 20 years later, I am still doing it. What are some of your fondest memories connecting with RIT’s photography community through the Big Shot? Every Big Shot was an adventure, and it was a perpetual challenge to make Big Shot bigger, more interesting, and more inclusive every year. A truly notable moment was bringing the Big Shot to the Intrepid Museum. Going to New York City to talk with the management team of the Intrepid was exciting, but they told us we had to rent out the ship for $28,000 if we wanted to make a photo of the ship. We came back to Rochester like dogs with our tails between our legs but, with the help of Ed Lincoln (director of Alumni Relations in 1998), we were able to photograph the museum and we had this massive alumni afterparty. President Simone was there with the president of Fuji Film, and CNN featured us. After making the Big Shot photo at the Intrepid Museum on Oct. 28, 1999, CNN produced a story about the project and interviewed Peres and other members of the team.
Another Big Shot that was exceptional was when we photographed the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Big Shot photo became the national Swedish Christmas card for two years. I have a signed card from King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia. After our visit, they put lighting on the outside of the palace. They’d never seen the palace lit at night like it was lit for the Big Shot picture. It’s interesting to think that we inspired change at the Royal Palace. An interesting evolution we worked through was the transition from film to digital photography. In the earliest days of the Big Shot, we had to run home, develop the negatives, and then make prints. Then, we would run the prints to the television stations and the newspapers while they were still wet to try to get on the 11 p.m. news or in the morning paper. Hand delivering prints was a fun way to distribute our work. Now, we make a picture and 5 minutes after the picture is done, it's distributed all around the world. What are your post-RIT plans? I’m giving myself the year to not put any pressure on myself or make commitments. It feels nice to just dwell on what’s happened at RIT and celebrate the future. I’ve made photographs since 1972, so I have a massive collection of slides, negatives, digital files, prints, and all these things that need attention. I’m going to spend the first year figuring out what I want to do with those things. I have two beautiful grandchildren and we’re going to do some traveling. I’ll take my dog for long walks and hang out with him. I’m on a committee at the Eastman Museum that I go to monthly, and I volunteer for the Friends of the Public Market by designing their newsletter. I also volunteer at a nonprofit called InterVol and I go there to sort unused medical supplies and equipment that is redistributed to developing countries. I find great joy in contributing my time and energy to important work like that.
