RIT Big Shot Notecards

Photographed by RIT School of Photographic Arts and Sciences

The Big Shot Story

At the end of the 1986-87 school year, Professors William DuBois and Michael Peres were analyzing the ups and downs of the recently completed academic year. In discussing new ways to teach electronic flash photography and problem-solving to the second-year Biomedical Photography students, it was decided that an extracurricular "painting with light" project should be tried. The idea was inspired by a similar project that was produced by the Sylvania Corporation in the 1950s called the "Big Shot."

The first RIT Big Shot was taken in December 1987 of Highland Hospital, located in downtown Rochester, N.Y. Professor Dawn Tower-DuBois operated a single 4 x 5 camera loaded with black and white negative film. The basic principles of the project were, and still remain, simple. The picture is made at night requiring hand-held electronic flash and flashlights to "paint" the subject with light during a timed exposure that can last several minutes. All exterior lights that shine on the subject are turned off while all interior lights are left on when possible. RIT's School of Photographic Arts & Sciences has produced a total of 23 projects to date.