Professor
Cyr spoke with us about his career path in class. He spoke about “evolving as a
professional to work in different areas of photography”. He told us a lot about
himself and how he got to where he is today.
Professor
Cyr earned his BFA with a concentration in photography from Connecticut
College. He only attended two photo classes at that time! He also had the
opportunity to study in Florence for one semester. From 2001-2006 he worked on Textural Compositions.
For
two summers, Professor Cyr did a work study and internship at Maine Media
Workshops. World renowned photographers taught the workshops there, and he had
the opportunity to meet them.
From 2003-2009 he worked at M.V. Labs, a film photo printing
lab. He started as an unpaid intern, but
quickly became a paid apprentice. He printed for many famous photographers there,
including Gordon Parks, Marilyn Bridges and Jim Goldberg. Work slowed down
after a few years because digital photography gained popularity, and B&W
printing wasn’t as popular anymore. In 2006-2007 he was master printer at the
lab, and he spent a lot of his time off shooting for his own projects. He also
started building a collection of signed prints given to him by the clients he
was printing for.
2008-2010 Professor Cyr earned his MFA at SVA. During that
time in 2009, he started his own B&W printing studio. Networking at the
previous printing studio he worked for gave him connections of clients who wanted
work from him. He explained to us that he knew how he was going to pay for everything
before he bought it, and knew jobs would be coming in before spending his own
money on equipment. In 2013, rent skyrocketed from $1500 to $6000 per month! He
moved his studio from Dumbo to Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
From 2010-2014 he created Developer Trays, which consists of photos of famous photographer’s
darkroom developer trays. He did quite a bit of travelling to make all the
photos.
Professor Cyr’s goal since 2008 was to become a full-time
teacher. Having the goal of having a career with a salary and benefits was
important to him. In 2014 he was an adjunct professor, and he continued printing
and selling prints. It is important to have income coming from different
places, and that is just what he did. He also had the expense of running his
own business, so he needed to maximize his income to continue that business.
Professor Cyr, is now of course, a full time working professor
at Suffolk County Community College. Some of the advice he gave to us was , maintain
a regimented schedule. Have good time management and maximize your efficiency during
work time. Freelance work gives you flexibility in your schedule, but teaching
gives you a set schedule and five months off! Plus a steady paycheck and benefits,
which are always great too. Always look ahead to the next few years, things don’t
happen overnight. Always build relationships, and the steps you take will
continue to build upon each other.
Professor Cyr is, in my opinion, a great professor. His love
of and knowledge about photography is easily passed to all of his students, and
I feel lucky to have him as my teacher.
