With this shot, Academy of Art University student Sean Dufrene captured his 71-year-old father, Jack, in all his surreal, Coors-guzzling glory. “This photo isn’t far from reality,” says Dufrene. “My dad’s kind of a cowboy.” The shot is part of a series on his father that is at once beautifully composed, hilarious and tender. (Other images have him wearing a beer-can tool belt and dining with his cat.) Dufrene initially planned to shoot his dad in a documentary style, à la Richard Avedon, but then realized Jack warranted a more outrageous approach. As for his model, Dufrene says, “Before every shoot, he’d grumble about it, but whenever I submitted a shot in class, he would be the first one calling me, asking, ‘So, what did they think?'”
CLOSE-UP
• Training: Studied economics and photo communications at California State University, Fullerton; now pursuing an MFA at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco
• Upcoming project: A series of highfashion shots in B-movie settings
• Inspired by: Quentin Tarantino and Mel Brooks movies
• Best advice: Shoot for yourself, not other people. Critiques can refine your process, but also pollute it.
• Website: seandufrene.com
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* “Trust in the Universe”Sometimes you just got to trust God and fall back into His arms.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Haunted Me All The Way Home
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up *This body of work concentrates on the fragile yet raucous scenery of the industrial world; the metallic landscape of machinery, vast spaces of intricate lines, and the historical aspect of the subject matter.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Bound AngelPart of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Dirt AngelPart of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Trying to FlyPart of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Fashion AngelPart of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Domestic Angel 2Part of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* TV AngelPart of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Pop Culture Angel1Part of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Natural AngelPart of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Domestic Angel 2Part of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Pop Culture Angel 2Part of my “Modern Angels” series.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Day DreamA dancer lays down in the middle of an ally as her partner flips over her.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* The PlanTwo dancers whisper and giggle together as they plan on what they are going to do.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* The ArrivalAnother break dancer joins the couple as they practice some dance moves in an ally.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Show OffOne of the break dancers in the dance crew shows off a dance move called the “Baby Freeze”.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* The Show Is OnThe crew shows off their individual talent dance moves downtown.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *ReflectionPicture taken beside Medicine Lake in Jasper, Canada. People stop their cars to gaze at these curious mountain goats.
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Nike FreeArt Direction: Alex Van Der Breggen, Larissa Fatseas
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Overgrown
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Pool1
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Pool2
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Pool3
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Pool4
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Pool5
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title:* Pool6
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*Student-Work Category Runner-Up **Title: *Pool7
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*Student-Work Category Winner *Title: Suntan’in And BBQ’inWith this shot, Academy of Art University student Sean Dufrene captured his 71-year-old father, Jack, in all his surreal, Coors-guzzling glory. “This photo isn’t far from reality,” says Dufrene. “My dad’s kind of a cowboy.” The shot is part of a series on his father that is at once beautifully composed, hilarious and tender. (Other images have him wearing a beer-can tool belt and dining with his cat.) Dufrene initially planned to shoot his dad in a documentary style, à la Richard Avedon, but then realized Jack warranted a more outrageous approach. As for his model, Dufrene says, “Before every shoot, he’d grumble about it, but whenever I submitted a shot in class, he would be the first one calling me, asking, ‘So, what did they think?’”
