The University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications welcomes award-winning visual storyteller Bill Frakes as a visiting professor for Spring 2016 through next Fall.
Frakes, a fifth-generation Nebraskan and current resident of Florida, will be working with professor Joe Starita and CoJMC students on a depth report about a small Nebraska town.
“This is a demanding, complex project that has enormous visual potential, and so I am thrilled to have a photographer/videographer with the exemplary skill set that Bill Frakes has as a partner in this important project,” professor Joe Starita said. “He’s a world-class visual artist who also brings another key component to the project: He loves Nebraska as much as anyone I know and sincerely wants to use his exceptional talents to take the ‘Good Life’ up another notch.”
The Pulitzer Prize winner has worked in every state in the United States and 139 countries for a variety of editorial and advertising clients.
His still photographs and short documentaries have appeared in nearly every major general interest publication, hundreds of websites and most major TV networks. He’s currently on the masthead of Sports Illustrated.
I have huge respect for the work being done by the community – students, faculty and administration – at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications,” Frakes said. “I jumped at Dean Marron’s invitation to spend time on the faculty, particularly working closely with my long-time friend Joe Starita and alongside professor Bruce Thorson.”
His hundreds of national and international awards include Newspaper Photographer of the Year from the prestigious Pictures of the Year competition, a Gold Medal by the World Press Photo and a Pulitzer Prize for the team he worked on at the Miami Herald for its coverage of Hurricane Andrew.
He was honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for his reporting on the disadvantaged and the Overseas Press Club for distinguished foreign reporting. In 2010 and 2013, he served on the jury of World Press Photo.
Frakes directs music videos and TV advertisements. His advertising clients include Apple, Nike, Coca Cola, Nikon, Mars, Manfrotto and Reebok.
Frakes has taught at the University of Miami, the University of Florida and the University of Kansas as an adjunct professor and lecturer. He gave lectures at more than 100 universities in the last five years discussing multimedia and photojournalism.
He also produces educational content through multi-touch electronic books and platforms as part of his production company, Straw Hat Visuals, that’s distributed to 22 countries in North and South America.
For more information about Bill Frakes and to view some of his work, www.billfrakes.com
