Alex Hicks - PhotoJournalist & Photography Instructor
March 6, 2008 by Charlotte Babb
Alexander C. Hicks Jr. is a photojournalist. Like most journalists, his job is to communicate information to the public. Unlike most journalists who use words, he uses images and sound to inform readers. His goal is to bring readers to the event.
Alex started his journey down this path when he was just in grade school. A photojournalist at a sporting event let him look through her camera. She took some time with Alex, gave him her business card, and told him to call her with any questions. From that day forward, he wanted to make images and show them to people. Growing up in St. Louis and Chicago gave him the opportunity to read major daily newspapers and see how the editors used pictures with the stories.
High school gave Alex his first chance to learn about the power and impact images can have on a person. Simple events turned to chances to take pictures for the yearbook and the weekly school’s newspaper. Within weeks, everyone in the school knew who he was: “Alex are you covering the game tonight?”
He still hears that question today at his job at the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
When high school was over Alex knew he needed to get serious about his education, to find a way to go to college without putting his parents in major debt. Military service was a perfect fit: paying for college, offering a good salary, working with some of the best camera gear on the planet, and traveling the world making images.
For the next few years he spent time in various military schools learning about photography. After attending all the schools the military had in his field, he was accepted to Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Journalism in upstate New York.
Newhouse became his intellectual home where he got a chance to study the great journalists and photojournalists of our time. After earning a degree, Alex reported back in the Navy as a military photojournalist. He traveled to the Far East, the Middle East, and Europe to cover stories with the sharp eye of a military-trained photojournalist. For more than 20 years before he retired from the military, he traveled the world with a camera to record the events of history.
Alex says he is a better person for being a photojournalist:
”I saw history and was there to record it.”
All military careers come to an end. He has worked for newspapers in Florida and Illinois since retiring from the military. His wife’s home is in South Carolina, and she loves the state. After being on the road for so many years and away from family, he thought it was only fair to live close to where his wife grew up. Her home has always been at the North and South Carolina state line near Charlotte.
As for Alex, he views life and work as a citizen of the world: “As long as I have a camera and events to record, the photographer in me is happy to continue what I do best — record history as it happens.”
Alex Hicks is our photography instructor. See Job Outlook for Photography: http://sccsc.edu/cce/joPhotography.asp
Check out these classes:
Learn types of cameras, photography terms and explanations, composition, types of photography and basic darkroom techniques. Students will have the opportunity to go out of the classroom, shoot and critique pictures.
Class will agree on fieldtrip date for last class. 35millimeter digital camera and its manual are highly recommended. Students are welcome to bring laptops. Instructor will be teaching Adobe Photoshop Elements and Photoshop but any photography editing is welcome.
- Monday, Thursday, 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
- 6 sessions starting May 12, 2008, ending May 29, 2008, No class 5/26/08: Spartanburg - EST East Building
-
6 sessions starting June 9, 2008, ending June 26, 2008: Gaffney - CTF Cherokee Business Training Ctr
Photography, Advanced $110
This course covers lighting, portraits, wedding, business and more darkroom techniques.
-
Saturday, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM;
-
2 sessions starting October 18, 2008, ending October 25, 2008: Spartanburg - EST East Building
Photography-Basic Digital Darkroom $66
This course is for Photographers who need to develop their skills for digital photography. Uncover the secrets to digital exposure, white balance, making prints, correct modes and color, cropping, sizing, printing, storing and archiving images, basic photo restoration and much more!
-
Monday, Thursday, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
-
2 sessions starting March 17, 2008, ending March 20, 2008: Duncan - Tyger River Campus
- Saturday, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
- 1 session on April 19, 2008: Duncan - Tyger River Campus
- 1 session on September 20, 2008: Spartanburg - EST East Building
Subscribe in a reader
