The Man Behind the Camera

Photos By: Provided by Sean Hughes

   Sean Hughes shoots from the hip. Literally.

An adjunct professor for years, Sean Hughes is now a field service assistant professor at UC. (Photo by Michael McKeown)

On a trip to Cuba a few years ago, the new photojournalism and design coordinator in McMicken College of Arts and Sciences found himself on a crowded ferryboat with Cuban passengers. Already conspicuously different than the other riders, the camera gear didn’t deflect any attention.

In order to capture the looks of boredom and exhaustion of the passengers without ruining the moment, Hughes started taking photos of them while the camera sat at his hip, altering camera settings to focus without looking through the lens.

“I like to show people in their element,” Hughes says. “I just love those moments where you can capture people being themselves.”

Hughes has taught for years at University of Cincinnati as an adjunct professor, but 2009 marks his first year as a field service assistant professor in the Department of English’s journalism program.

Hughes visited India this summer to document the demise of traditional textile companies.

With more than 15 years of photojournalism and design experience, Hughes is excited to share his experience and passion with students—and continue working in the field and honing his craft.

“I’m thrilled about getting this position because it’s a perfect balance to still be in the field while teaching. And what’s a better way to teach students than to say, ‘Okay, let’s go out there and do this together.’”

Hughes continues to do freelance work for CityBeat, the Cincinnati publication he worked for as an art director since 1995. In fact, while his digital design students were covering the MidPoint Music Festival in downtown Cincinnati in late September, he too was covering the event. He believes it was a good opportunity to compare and critique each others’ work.

Hughes and his digital design students photographed the MidPoint Music Festival in downtown Cincinnati.

During his time at CityBeat, he won more than 20 local, state and national awards, including first place for a page one layout by Cincinnati’s branch of the Society of Professional Journalists. He’s also been a two-time honoree of the Ohio SPJ’s Designer of the Year Award.

In the field, Hughes is working on various projects, including a gallery exhibit for Indiana University East from a recent trip to India with a former photojournalism student. While there, Hughes captured the story of Gitto, a woman who runs a traditional textile company and her struggles with the rapid decline of the industry that has fallen victim to Chinese mass production.

“I love taking photographs of the human condition, whether it’s positive or negative,” he says.

Another project funded by the Ohio Humanities Council designated Hughes as one of eight Ohio photographers to travel around the state to recreate scenes from photos taken in the 1940s by the WPA (Works Progress Administration).

The council hopes the finished product will result in galleries, a Web site and a book.

“My goal as a field service professor is to have a continuous flow of published work. I need to show through my body of work that I can keep up with technology,” Hughes says. “And I think that makes the students feel more comfortable in a learning environment because I can show them that I practice what I teach.”