Photographer Kwaku Alston Returns to RIT

Kwaku Alston, known for his creative photographic portraits of celebrities, will pay a visit to his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology. Alston will speak at 7 p.m. on Monday, Apr. 16, in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Sciences auditorium on RIT’s Henrietta campus.

Alston, 29, graduated from RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences in 1994. In the years that followed, he’s photographed internationally known stars such as Sameul L. Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Matt Damon and Will Smith. His assignments are mainly editorial, advertising and CD covers for a client list that includes New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Miramax Films, Code magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Nike, Columbia Tri-Star, Time and various recording labels such as Sony Music.

"I have never wanted to follow the rules," Alston says. "Photography is creative; it’s all about concepts. Some of these celebrities are very hard to deal with. I have to get inside their heads and find out what they’re all about, then use it somehow in the photograph."

A reception will immediately follow Alston’s lecture, which is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by RIT’S alumni relations office, the assistant provost for diversity and the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.

For more information, call 475-2884.