Student Spotlight: Nathan Gross

As a senior, Nathan Gross works on his capstone project and is in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program of photography.

Gross will create a fine art exhibit which highlight photographs that he took as he traveled. Gross used to be a business major, but decided to switch to the BFA program.

“I love photography and communicating complex ideas with visual simplicity. There is also the opportunity to document beautiful and interesting places,” said Gross.

Gross traveled across the state of Utah, and captured majestic landscapes, and dark skies filled with stars.

His biggest goal is to travel the world and to make money while doing it. Photography gives him the opportunity to do just that.

The challenges Gross faces aren’t about how to achieve his aspirations, but rather finding the time to complete all of the projects he would like to pursue.

The photography program here at UVU has undergone some major changes recently, and although he says that the facilities are somewhat lacking, he speaks highly of the program, “The staff is great, top notch. It’s a testament to the professors that the program and students are successful,” Gross said.

Gross feels particularly inspired by photographers Michael Kenna, Edward Weston, and Myoung Ho Lee.

Gross uses a digital Nikon camera, as well as his HTC phone to take pictures. Although Nathan works with his digital camera primarily, he likes to shoot 35mm color film occasionally.

Important advice to people who are interested in pursuing photography according to Gross is “Don’t worry about your camera or lens, just shoot. Find out what you want to capture, then you can find equipment that best suits what you are interested in,” Gross said.

He believes that the biggest difference between artists who work digitally and traditional darkroom photographers is that “it is difficult to break out and be different. Traditional methods have become rare and there is something satisfying about working with materials, chemistry, and light to produce an image. Digital processes are easier, faster and cleaner but it’s a tradeoff – each process has its own challenges,” Gross said.