What makes Brooks the best?

Let me sum it up for you in two simple words. “Me.”

To fully understand where I am coming from, you first need a little history about the school. I won’t bore you with the non-necessities. Ernest Brooks had this fabulous idea way back in 1945. He would bring the passion, adventure, power, and understanding of photography to any ambitious, truly interested student by creating a program that was elite above all others. This was to be the photo schools of all photo schools. While it did start out in a humble Montecito mansion just a couple of miles outside of Santa Barbara City, it was no “fly by night” operation. A new standard of photographic education was born.

Before long, “Brooks” was the name on everyone’s mind, at least if photography was of concern to them. Not only was Brooks a wonderful teaching institution, it was an excellent teaching environment. Ernie went out of his way to make sure the students not only felt a part of the school, but that they were a part of the school. For every student to graduate from Brooks, Ernie personally gave each and every one a pin. Not just any pin, mind you. He would take all of the silver that was recaptured out of the photo chemistry, the very silver that students had deposited while processing all of their black and white film, and he would have pins made of that silver. These were the momentos that students could take with them throughout their life to remember what part Brooks had to play in their futures. (and what part they played in Brooks future).

You see, it wasn’t just that Ernie Brooks was a god. He wasn’t. He was brilliant. He created an environment where students could learn. He wasn’t just teaching “stuff” like so many other universities. He wasn’t offering a trade school education, either. He set up culture where students of all walks of life could come and be moulded and shaped into the finest photographers in the world. Anyone, as long as they really believed they were the best, could come and take from that culture, add to that culture, and eventually become the defining aspect of that culture. The photographic industry very quickly came to accept Brooks photographers as the elite among their photographic peers. If you wanted the job done right, you could depend on someone who endured the rigors of the Brooks bludgeoning.

So, once again, what makes Brooks so great? I do. Ernest Brooks knew that. He knew that for a school for the gifted visual artist of today to succeed, he would need to create a culture that inspired, and controlled, the student. How do you control an artist? That is like trying to calm an environmentalist. Simplicity and ease was NOT what these students needed. That would bore them. If he could just harness, and productively direct all that passion and energy which was a natural commodity of the visual artist, he would have a success. Programs don’t make great institutions. People do. If you want to build a great institution, there are a few simple steps. First, get the right people. (That’s right, the wrong people will never make a great institution). Second, be sure to give them what they need. (notice the emphasis). Third, get out of their way, cause they’re gonna tear it up. Ernie knew these secrets. He got dead center onto the photographer’s path, but never got in their way. Like I said, he was brilliant.

 

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