Hopefully you know by now that Photo House is turning 40 this year. Hopefully this has spurred you to go back into your archives (surely you have archives), and find any great photos you have from way back when you were living on Photo House.

If you do happen to have any photos, we’d absolutely love it if you’d bring them with you to the reunion on Saturday! (Which by the way is THIS Saturday!!!)

I hope I’ll be seeing you all there!

Ben Lubin

Historian

Here is an e-mail that was forwarded to me from an alum who was part of Photo House just a few years after it was founded:

Well, Photo House. Forty years of age. Now I do feel old! I attended RIT full time from 1974-76 and was a resident of Photo House that entire period. My AAS in Pro Photo from RIT has served me so very well over the decades as the foundation for a career that started in visual communications, transitioned to technical and then corporate and now educational communication. Today I am a college dean with three degrees and a fourth underway but my genesis was in SPAS at RIT.

What a great bunch of people at Photo House those years! I remember many experiences but here are a few:

• The closet that served as our nighttime hours darkroom, which expanded to the men’s bathroom as needed (which was always interesting when the overhead lights were turned on during a critical processing moment resulting in very colorful language all around).

• The sporting events, that often included Engineering House just across the elevator lobby on the fourth floor of NRH: Hockey, golf, baseball, and soccer. The most questionable location to be was the elevator lobby during these events as the highest possible score was, of course, getting the object down the length of the building hallway! One had to pity the RA, what a group of crazies to deal with.

• A Photo House resident who would play his clarinet in the stairwell at all hours which was its own entertainment when other NRH residents complained to the musician. Sometimes others would jam with him, great jazz in a less-than-great accoustical setting.

• A very famous Quad Party that originated in Photo House and probably resulted in rules about not having quad parties in the future at RIT. My roommate and I had a powerful stereo and found that our two windows in a fourth floor corner room were simply perfect for DJ purposes as the party got underway. Security and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department later did not agree with us, as I recall.

Photo House was co-ed in 1974 and the ladies had one end of the House and the fellows the other. I think weekend community viewings of Monty Python were some of the best times, and probably the Sunday morning hangovers the worst times. A very quiet place, Photo House, on a Sunday morning. About the only time quiet was a norm.

It was amazing what a photographer could accomplish in our lounge area with a paper backdrop, props and Speed-O-Trons lugged from the Cage over the Quarter-Mile walkway. If you missed your early morning studio class or couldn’t get an evening slot on reserve, what were you to do about assignment deadlines? Improvise, and we sure did.

In balance, some of the best people I have known I lived with at Photo House and we indeed had many photographic, academic and philosophical discussions and adventures together. Good friends, good peers, and good spirits all. My best wishes to all past, present and future residents of Photo House - a great place to be at RIT!

Steven McIntosh PPHP 1985 (attended FT at RIT 1974-76)

Member and 2011-12 FundRaising Chair Glenn Sweeney brought his Rolleiflex + (incredibly rare) Rollei Marin underwater housing for the flex’. Just normal stuff during finals week at RIT!

Liz Marchiondo, 3rd Year Biomed and RA for Photo House / NRH4, plays with a Rolleiflex Marin underwater medium format camera.

This will be my final post as the Spring 2011 Historian. While that is not the most cheery thing,  I am extremely proud of all the great the things Photo House has accomplished and what will be coming in the next year.

The members, leadership, and advisors have done the impossible by  bringing the best out of every situation that fell in our laps. But what I’m most pumped about is having Ben back in the seat as historian, there are very few people I have met that are as committed and dedicated as Ben, and with our 40th Anniversary Celebration coming up, I am so excited to see what he and Kenna have planned. 

But in the meantime, I’m back in Texas for the summer (where it’s a comfortable 90º with humidity), make sure to stop by my blog / twitter  to follow what I’m up to! See ya’ll on the other side of things in a bit.

Thanks for everything,

Dan Wang

Photo House Alum, Spring 2011 Historian

Another year gone by, another year summed up in 75 glorious pages. This year will be known in history as the year of accomplishments. Photo House managed to do oh so much with oh so little. A quick overview of some of the hot items in this year’s Photo House yearbook:

As the President of Photo House for the spring quarter, I can’t be happier about the way this year went. Just a few of our accomplishments include:

• A completely overhauled internet presence: A new website, this Tumblr, a Twitter, and a new Facebook Page.
• Filmstrips in the halls
• A better printer, better strobes, and a “new” Mamiya RB67 (thanks to Anne, an alum from ‘79-81)
• The gallery doubles as a quiet study room

In total, Photo House ran and funded over 65 events this year for our members. That is an amazing statistic, but it doesn’t stop there. Photo House is also home to three senators for the fall: Alex Mastromarchi for the special interest houses, Peter Mikitsh for GCCIS, and Vinnie DiCairano for CIAS. All of these things and more led to Photo House’s greatest achievement yet: SIH of the Year. While doing all of these things, we also managed to keep our average GPA up above the competition, reeling in the Highest GPA award for the second year in a row.

I can’t express my excitement for the position that Photo House is in right now. We’ve been set up in a perfect position to achieve all of our dreams both short term and long term.

Coming up next year is Photo House’s 40th birthday. We’re working hard to set up an amazing event for all of our members and of course our alumni to enjoy. If you’re interested in finding out more info, please e-mail reunion@rit.edu for more information and to sign up.

I’ll be returning next year in my old position as historian. I think I’ve learned a lot from this year as historian for the first two quarters, and I’ve definitely learned a lot from our current historian Dan Wang. I can’t wait to be a part of the new e-board. I think we’ll do some amazing things!

   -Ben Lubin

   Photo House President Spring 2011

   Photo House Historian 2011-2012