Student Feature: Francis Bonn III
RITphoto invited BFA senior Frankie Bonn to share his experiences at RIT, his work, and his future plans.
Photo by Clay Patrick McBride
What’s up. I’m Frankie Bonn. I am a Rochester local. I am from the west side of the city – or as we like to call it – the best side. I grew up skateboarding and listening to punk music. It was in those scenes where I started to notice the work of photographers. I began taking photo classes in high school but rediscovered my love for the craft while pursuing a degree in history at a Brockport State University.
Why did you choose RIT?
I am from Rochester. My mom went to school at RIT and she studied accounting with the frat bros and nerds over on the other side of campus. Let’s put it this way, coming out of high school RIT was not resonating with me. I was the kid giving his friends “jailhouse” tattoos in my basement and lighting things on fire in the woods behind my house. I was not building computers or studying for the SAT exam. Ultimately, I visited the campus because of what I heard about the photo program. I was interested because I could also save money by living off campus.
Can you share a reason why the photo program at RIT attracted you?
There were a lot of factors that played into me choosing RIT photo program. Once I had made the choice to go to school for photography I started researching the top photo schools in the country and RIT kept showing up on the list of schools. I came out for the tour and once I saw the all the studios, equipment, and met some people, I was sold.
How is this community helping to shape your goals
The ad program here has really pushed me to find what I want to shoot and perfect shooting it. All my teachers have been willing to help and give me advice on how to improve my projects. This program is pretty incestuous so everyone gets to know everyone and what they are doing. Out of that has come some great work and a lot of opportunities for collaborations.
What has been your most challenging assignment as a photography student?
I like to treat each assignment like it the most challenging, keeps me sharp. I work hard on everything I make here, and that’s a good excuse to go out and drink after the project is done and before the next one starts.
Have you won any awards?
No I entered one of my favorite photos I’ve taken into the honors show and it got rejected completely. Probably that happened because it was of a junkie looking guy with needles in his head. My work has been published on Spotify, Inked Magazine, and Floated.
