Julie Lance: Editorial, Documentary, and Fine Art Photography

Me, Myself, and I

From the day I was born, I knew all I wanted to do was take photos. I remember as a small child watching football with my dad, all I could see was that one photo I could take that would tell the whole story. And although I always begged for a camera, we did not have the means.

After having a child as a teenager, I realized my demographic had the power to hold me captive on a road that would lead me into becoming a statistic. If I allowed these circumstances to remain, I would never be able to have a voice the way I want to be heard.

That was 30 years ago. Today, I just finished my Masters in Photography from SVA in NYC. A lot has changed. But one thing that has not changed is my passion to take photos and give a voice through the image.

One of my images alone, will tell a story. Toss a hundred of my images in a hat and randomly pull out a handful and together they too will tell a story.

That is my story; photography is my passion.

I am an artist - born and raised in the Midwest. My father was a steel worker by trade and an artist at heart. Always an artist first. He played guitar, sing and he could draw beautifully. Although i didnt get his musical skills, i did get the rest -- including the ability to take apart and put together anything - like cars - like images - like composition and color.and people.

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The Education:

I graduated with Honors from West Hills College in California and did my undergrad work at State University New York, Geneseo. I graduated cum Laude' with a concentration in Photography, and Art Studio. I am an artist - first...but photography, takes my breath away.

Yearning to take photos my entire life, I immediately tried to signup for a photography class at Geneseo. But that class was always full before it was my turn to sign up. I begged the photography professor, Michael Teres to let me in - I offered to even sit on the floor. Or outside the door. Or window. Or whatever. I just wanted to learn to use a camera. There was no room. I was denied -- for two semesters.

I finally got in and when everyone else shot 8-rolls of film, I shot 80. I could always be found in the darkroom and Professor Teres began to realize i just wasn't your typical student trying to fill a fine-arts core. Because I spent every spare second in the photography department the professor and I developed a close teacher -student relationship. and in addition, the professor's wife took an interest in my son and mentored him through high school which gave him an edge to overcome some hardships he endured through a single parent household.

I spent my summer taking down the darkroom and putting up a digital lab.I became Professor Teres' assistant and his "translator"" for all of his photography classes.

I won multiple awards while at Geneseo; state-wide SUNY art competitions, the Senior Art Scholarship and the Ronald Pretzer Scholarship in Photography. In addition, I convinced Ronald Pretzer to allow me to do an independent study of Ansel Adams and his Zone System using his darkroom since the schools lab went digital. Like Teres, working with Pretzer was a privilege.

My experiences at SUNY Geneseo are responsible for what I have become today and Teres was the backbone of that success. There is a piece of Teres in every piece create.

After I graduated, I went back to California, achieved a masters in education and secondary teaching credential from the state of California. I still yearned to take photos everyday. It fueled me. So I applied to several masters in Photography programs and was accepted into the best. The School of Visual Arts, NYC. That is where I got a taste of New York City.

Part of the program was to come to New York City for the summer and finish your thesis in the form of an exhibit. From the moment i got there, i was constantly stimulated and i carried my little Panasonic lumix with the 20mm lens around my neck everywhere i went. One week after arriving, I found myself lost, and i was tired and hungry and I had to pee and I was lost. I kept getting on and off the trains trying to find my way home. I finally found the F train, still having to pee, I stood there waited patiently when I heard a man's voice say, "Don't you just love that camera?"

That moment, that question, and that man changed my life forever. I didnt know it at the time, but that was the luckiest day of my life. That man was Jay Colton.

In Memory of Jay Colton