Terry Abrams: Student and Teacher, Photography with a Passion

Terry Abrams has been teaching photography since 1975, when he moved to Europe to establish photography programs for an American college in Europe. He subsequently lived overseas for 13 years in England, Spain, Germany and the Azores Islands. During this time he travelled extensively throughout Europe, teaching Art and Photography.

In 1988, Terry moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and began teaching photography at Washtenaw Community College, where he is a full-time faculty member. As Department Chair for seven years, he guided the photography program through the transition from darkroom to digital photography and into a new building and lab facility designed for digital imaging.

Terry has also been a Lecturer in Photography at The University of Michigan and conducts photography workshops at The Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport, Maine. He co-produced the Great Lakes Digital Conference from 2003-2005, and taught workshops alongside the major innovators in digital photography, including Thomas Knoll, the inventor of Adobe Photoshop.

Throughout his career, Terry continues to be a student of photography. He has had the good fortune to study with Arnold Newman, Paul Caponigro, Michael Kenna, John Sexton, John Paul Caponigro, Lewis Kemper and others.

Terry Abrams has a BFA Degree in Photography from The Maryland Institute College of Art and Design, and an EdM Degree in Educational Leadership from Boston University. He also earned a Certificate in Photography from the Agfa-Gevaert Institute in Munich, Germany.

In 2005, Terry was selected to participate in a Fulbright-Hays Group Project led by the University of Michigan to travel, photograph and study Islamic culture in Morocco and southern Spain. In 2010, he was hosted by the Turkish Cultural Foundation to travel and photograph throughout Turkey as a Cultural Tour participant. He currently conducts photography travel workshops to locations such as Morocco, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Greece and Iceland.

In addition to teaching, Terry creates photographs using the latest digital technology. His images are reproduced in books and appear regularly in exhibitions. He began working with digital technology in the 1990s by scanning 8x10 negatives he produced with an antique camera, but today is working mostly with high resolution digital cameras, software applications, fine-art papers and large-format inkjet printers to produce his photographs.

Terry’s approach to photography is to produce images that communicate his visions of design and atmosphere both in black and white and color. His subjects include nature, landscapes and architectural elements from around the world.