School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “Mentors,” an exhibition of works by 71 graduating BFA Photography Department students inspired by their year-long mentorship with leaders in the visual arts. Drawn from the ranks of New York City’s best-known photographers, curators, art directors, publishers, art dealers, critics and writers, SVA’s mentors are carefully paired with students based upon their area of expertise and the student’s concentration. The 2006 - 2007 mentors include New York Times Senior Pictures Editor Philip Gefter, Artforum Editor in Chief Tim Griffin, gallerist Yossi Milo, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, and photographers Tina Barney and Robert Polidori.

SVA established the Mentors program in 1992 to introduce new talent to the New York City arts community. Stephen Frailey, chair of the BFA Photography Department and curator of the exhibition, says, “Mentoring is the heart of our program. Like our faculty, mentors come from every corner of the photography community, they help students do their best work, and get inspired to keep growing as professionals.”

At the School of Visual Arts, students are offered a full range of photography: commercial, fine art, fashion and documentary. In the past five years the department has been vastly improved with new technical facilities; nearly 100 faculty members, including not only working photographers but photo editors, critics, publishers and photography dealers; and a curriculum that integrates photographic genres, identities and ambitions, removing the traditional barriers between “art photography” and “commercial photography.” SVA’s diversity in curriculum and the faculty’s wealth of professional experience offer students the freedom and support to explore different directions in photography and to make wise career choices.

Mentor	Student
Vince Aletti, Photography Critic, The New Yorker	Hugo Fernandes
Chris Austopchuk, VP Design and Creative Director, Sony Music	Jing
Tracy Doyle Bales, Photo Editor, Life magazine	Roberta Ruocco
Tim Barber, photographer	Tom Winchester
Tina Barney, photographer	Taylor Schwarzkopf
Adam Bartos, photographer	Jon Pell
Jen Bekman, Owner/Director, Jen Bekman Gallery	Adrienne DeBoer
Phil Bicker, Creative Director, Fader	Jack Howard Stadtlander
Elisabeth Biondi, Visuals Editor, The New Yorker	Joseph Tripi
Marco Breuer, photographer	Cora Lambert
Ellen Brooks, photographer	Lianna Tarantin
Elinor Carucci, photographer	Rebecca Bradley
Bill Charles, Photographers’ Agent, Bill Charles Inc.	Michael Fodera
Brian Clamp, Director, Clampart	Andrea Castro
Charlotte Cotton, Cultural Curator, Art+Commerce	Veronica Boehm
Gregory Crewdson, photographer	Elizabeth Miele
James Crump, publisher and filmmaker	Jared Martin
Pascal Dangin, President, Box Limited	Rafael Vasquez
Lisa Diamond, Director of Photography, Corbis Outline	Nicole Akstein
Dana Faconti, Publisher and Editor, Blind Spot	Elizabeth Jefts Dowd
Brian Finke, photographer	Adi Lavy
Michael Foley, Director, Foley Gallery	Jesse Chan
Jason Fulford, photographer and publisher	Travis Kent
Adam Fuss, photographer	Lisa Elmaleh
Philip Gefter, Senior Picture Editor, The New York Times	Jeffrey Gray Brandsted
Alice Rose George, editor and art critic	Anatole Shaw
Claudia Gould, Director, Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania	Emily Felger
Tim Griffin, Editor in Chief, Artforum	Bartek Kraciuk
Matthew Higgs, Director and Chief Curator, White Columns	Anula Maiberg
Dana Hoey, photographer	Corrie Vierregger
Edwyn Houk, Director, Edwyn Houk Gallery	Alexander Perrelli
Holly Stuart Hughes, Editor in Chief, PDN	Lauren Kearns Jones
W.M. Hunt, Partner, Hasted Hunt Gallery	Christopher Grodzki
Simen Johan, photographer	Lydia Kardos
Maira Kalman, illustrator	Nao Uda
Michael Kazam, International Development and Creative Director, Le Book	Shanna Fisher
Edward Keating, photographer, The New York Times	Kevin S. Faulkner
Kathleen Klech, Photography Director, Cond? Nast Traveler	Laura Kirsch
Mark Lubell, President, Magnum Photos	Tania Jimenez
Glen Luchford, photographer	Luke Walter
Lesley Martin, Executive Editor of Books, Aperture Foundation	Theresa Edmonds
Yossi Milo, Director, Yossi Milo Gallery	Ashley Bell Clark
Bill Mindlin, Editor, Photograph	Jennifer Algoo-Mendez
Isaac Mizrahi, fashion designer	Pamela Reed+Matthew Rader
Paul Moakley, Photo Editor, Newsweek	Ava Luna Grumberg
James Moffat, Partner, Art+Commerce	Amy Elkins
Alison Morley, Chair, Documentary Photography Program, International Center of Photography	Adriana Hernandez
Sophie Morner, Editor, Capricious magazine	Jess Shaffer
Patrick O’Dell, Photo Editor, Vice magazine	Joelle Andres
Jodi Peckman, Director of Photography, Rolling Stone	Alex Smith
Robert Pledge, Founder, Contact Press Images Inc.	August Popkin
Robert Polidori, photographer	Brittany Collins
Daniel Power, Powerhouse Books	James Wallace Weber
Seth Price, artist	Morgan R. Jones
Jodi Quon, Photo Director, New York magazine	Amanda Dutton
Yancey Richardson, Director, Yancey Richardson Gallery	Sara Virgil
Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Salon 94	Niamh Sweeney
Andrew Roth, Director, Andrew Roth Gallery	Sebastian Mejia
Kathy Ryan, Photo Editor, The New York Times Magazine	Michael Kwiecinski
Julie Saul, Director, Julie Saul Gallery	Naho Kubota
Jordan Schaps, Corporate Photography Director	Lauren Luckett
Collier Schorr, photographer	Nicola Kast
Ivan Shaw, Photo Editor, Vogue	Jonathan Carroll
Stephen Shore, photographer	Anita Totha
Taryn Simon, photographer	James Frank Tribble
Amy Smith-Stewart, Curator, Mary Boone Gallery	Susanne Persson
Robert Stevens, writer	Christopher Davis
David Levi Strauss, critic	Nataly Levich
Neville Wakefield, critic	Jason Noyes
Richard B. Woodward, art critic	Christopher Schappert