Alumni Feature: Mustafa Hussain
I still enjoy seeing where RIT Photo alumni go to work, even after 35 years. Mustafa Hussain is the photographer at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo N.Y. and took my surgical photography class in the fall of 2018, as a photojournalism student. Mustafa earned a BA in psychology before he joined the RIT photojournalism program in 2017. I think that only at RIT, could a photojournalism student become a medical photographer, but I am surely biased. I reached out to Mustafa and asked him to share his unique story.
Professor Michael Peres
What are you doing professionally?
Currently, I am working at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y., as their senior photographer in the Creative Services and Marketing Department. My work at Roswell uses skills from advertising photography, documentary photography, and sometimes even surgical photography.
Freelance
I also am a freelance photographer and primarily contribute to The New York Times. I cover assignments in the Western New York and Upstate NY area. I am involved in the Buffalo community and document the Black Lives Matter movement from within. I have recently begun working with local music artists to produce album covers and other visuals to support their work. I spent the majority of last year freelancing in Pakistan for The New York Times, leaving shortly after I graduated from RIT.
How did your RIT education prepare you for your first job, and in your career?
Had I not enrolled in RITs photo program, it would have taken me much longer to get to where I am today and produce the work that I am. As a photojournalism student, I learned the valuable skills of visual storytelling and was equipped with the tools allowing me to grow and effectively work in this fluctuating industry. The faculty in the PJ department provided valuable lessons from their own extensive past work experience, which helped shape us into talented photojournalists. However, photojournalism was not the only area of photography I dove into during my three years at RIT. I took several advertising photography classes to learn everything I could about lighting, portraiture, and large-scale productions.
One of the most unique classes I took at RIT was Surgical Photography offered by the Photographic Sciences program. This intriguing elective gave students the opportunity to photograph at Rochester General Hospital and in a variety of surgeries. The last place I would have thought I would work after RIT was a leading cancer institute, but the valuable skills I had the privilege of learning through RITs photo program have effectively prepared me for all aspects of my position at Roswell. This in turn has allowed me to elevate their visual content in a completely new style in the few months I worked there.
Please share a fun RIT Photo memory or a favorite professor
I would say by far one of my favorite memories from my time at RIT was an assignments from the Lighting Control and Manipulation class, taught by David Turner. We were assigned to make pictures for an album cover. My talented team organized a full day of different styled shoots in a production warehouse in Buffalo, New York. I was happy to have developed strong relationships with the majority of my professors, both in Photojournalism and Advertising Photography during my time in Rochester.
How has being a photographer helped you in other aspects of your life Photography has definitely helped me pay attention to the things around me, slow down, and to appreciate the details of life. It has also opened many doors for me and has allowed me to develop relationships with a variety of wonderful people.
Why did you chose RIT?
Choosing to return to school after completing a BA in Psychology was a big decision for me. I’m happy I did decide to go to RIT. I chose RIT for one reason, the photography program and faculty are exceptional.
About Mustafa Hussain
Photojournalism helped me grow closer to my culture and heritage and it continues to encourage me to pursue stories that focus on what I personally hold dear. Most recently I was freelancing for several months in Pakistan for the New York Times as well as local publications and was a visiting professor, teaching Intro to Photography and Photojournalism at the Institute of Business Management. I am back in the states based in Buffalo, NY and am working as the Senior Photographer at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
As a South Asian Muslim, I am personally invested in narratives throughout the Muslim world, especially in South Asia. My career goals are to document truthful narratives of minority communities, humanitarian crises, sociopolitical issues, and progressive culture.
Additionally, portraiture forms a large portion of my work with a focus on environmental portraits. My proficiency in manipulating light shapes my editorial and advertising portraiture. I photograph with intention and often use practical, ambient light to motivate the environment while maintaining harmony with my strobes.
I graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2019 with a degree in Photojournalism. I also earned a BA in Psychology from SUNY Buffalo.
*I am first and foremost a photojournalist, honoring and practicing the NPPA’s code of ethics in my journalistic work.
Website: mustafahussainofficial.com
July 30, 2020 (For Roswell Park 2019 Annual Report Magazine.)
