Student feature – Gail Goers

Gail Goers was born in Louisville, Kentucky and grew up in North Carolina. She received her B.A. in Spanish and Communication Studies in 2000. At age twenty-seven, she took up photography and has worked in the field for the past seven years. Her book, MUSE, will be released later this year on Daniel 13 Press. She is a first year MFA student in Imaging Arts.

What was your most challenging assignment as a photography student?
[G.G.] I do not have a traditional school background as a photography student. I began studying photography part-time while working full-time in my late twenties. My classes were taken in a studio art program that focused more on concept than technique, with non-studio art majors that mostly were not too interested in photography, so much of what I know, I taught myself. Most projects were self-driven, but perhaps that one that I was most pleased with and that took me the longest to realize, was my final project in my Conceptual Photo class. It was the first time that I really had to work through various technologies to achieve the result I envisioned. Each time I thought, “Aha! I have it” but then would realize after the initial excitement, that no, it was not quite what I wanted. I think it is important in photography to keep pushing yourself to explore further, even when you think you have a “good” image, in order to find your way to that “great” image.

What do you love about the school?
[G.G.] Well, I just arrived here a few months ago but I think what I love most is the intensity of all the students around me. Though I have only met a few undergraduates personally, seeing the lines at the cage, and all the lugging around of photography equipment from day to day, makes me feel for the first time, that I am within a community of photographers. It is also makes me feel a bit jealous that I could not come here as an undergraduate.

To more of Gail’s work click here: http://www.gailgoers.com