Matthew Burris
Matthew Burris graduated with a BFA in photography from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
Following graduation, Matt stayed in Brooklyn to work as a professional B&W printer at Klass Photographics, Inc. There, he worked in a traditional darkroom producing gelatin silver prints for galleries and individual artists. In addition to regular printing, Matt is also proficient with sepia, selenium and gold toners. He also makes copy negatives from vintage photographs.
While working primarily with medium format, Matt often experiments with various film formats and alternative print processes. He has built two pinhole cameras, which accept 4x5 film and Polaroid backs, and has printed with cyanotype, gum bichromate, platinum/palladium, and Polaroid transfer.
Ross McDermott
Ross received an undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Upon graduation, he lived for a year in Japan, documenting the culture and building a photography portfolio. Upon returning to the States in 2006, Ross has worked as a freelance photographer, taking him to several countries in Africa, India, and a U.S. Marine boot camp. He is a 2008 recipient of a National Geographic Young Explorer's grant.
Ross recently completed a yearlong photography and audio documentary piece called Stories from the Garden (link). The project documented the lives of ten individuals from a lower-income neighborhood in Charlottesville, VA and exhibited at the 2008 Festival of the Photograph.
In 2007 Ross created and directed a five-month photography workshop called the Generations Project that pairs high school students with senior citizens in nursing homes. The workshop teaches high school students the basics of photography, audio recording, and producing audio slideshows.