Image courtesy of RIT

Teaching Award

Established in 1998, the annual Callanan Excellence in Teaching Award honors a high school, college, or postgraduate teacher’s dedication and commitment to their students and the photographic field. Educators in all areas of photographic teaching are eligible, including but not limited to fine art, documentary, history and criticism. Educators must be nominated by their student(s) or colleague(s) to be considered.

EDUCATORS MUST POSSESS • A genuine passion for teaching, an ability to excite students to learn, respect for students as individuals and an enduring artistic curiosity.

AWARD PACKAGE
• $5,000 USD
• Review Santa Fe invitation - tuition not included
• Professional Development Seminars access

2025 Recipient

© David Turner

ERIC T. KUNSMAN • Photographer, Book Artist, & Assistant Professor, Visual Communications Studies Department, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

SEGMENT FROM THE JUROR’S STATEMENT
"... (T)ransformative teaching arises not from curriculum alone but from moments when an educator’s ethos fundamentally alters a student’s understanding of possibility. I have witnessed how a single educator can irrevocably reshape a student’s trajectory—not through instruction alone, but by recognizing and affirming their inherent worth.

Reviewing this year’s nominations reaffirmed this truth, with Eric Kunsman’s dossier emerging as a masterclass in pedagogical devotion... The letters in his support paint a portrait of a teacher who invests not only in skills but in people—whether by learning American Sign Language to bridge communication barriers, funding thesis exhibitions during a pandemic, or transforming his personal studio into a sanctuary for experimentation. These acts transcend generosity; they reflect a profound understanding of education as a covenant that persists long after a semester concludes.”

– Kathleen Sanker • Artist, Photographer, Professor of Art, St. Charles Community College, St. Louis, MO |2024 recipient and 2025 Juror

FROM THE NOMINATIONS –

“Eric’s pedagogy is rooted in enabling students to realize artistic expression and thus live artful lives.”

“Eric is always there for you as a student, giving up his free time and allowing students to access his personal studio space. Constantly providing insight and feedback to help push your creative vision. No other professor was as committed to helping you win as Eric was and still is to this day.”

“He doesn’t just uplift his students—he uplifts the field itself.”

“He treats students as colleagues, not subordinates.”

“Eric Kunsman’s passion for teaching extends far beyond the walls of his classroom or the hours of his lectures. He has always endeavored to meet the needs of students, even when doing so far exceeds his professional responsibilities. For example, although there were no deaf or hard-of-hearing students in the class I took with Professor Kunsman, he always signed every word he spoke in American Sign Language. He did this to continue to improve his ASL skills for those students in his other classes who relied on them.”

“Eric’s teachings are carried into my own classroom.”

“Prior to [teaching at NTID], he did not know how to sign, a necessity for communicating with his deaf students. He quickly became fluent in American Sign Language; none of my other professors ever bothered to learn how to sign, despite the large population of deaf students.”

Previous Recipients

  • 2024 • Kathleen Sanker

    Artist, Photographer, and Professor of Art, St. Charles Community College – St. Louis, Missouri, USA

  • 2023 • Alanna Styer

    Documentary Artist, Educator, Activist, Education Research Fellow, Photographer’s Green Book, and Program Manager, Media Arts Education and Mentoring, Venice Arts – Los Angeles, California, USA

  • 2022 • Uche Okpa-Iroha

    Visual Artist, Art and Culture Producer, Art Educator, Independent Curator, Mentor, and Founder and Director, The Nlele Institute – Lagos, Nigeria

  • 2021 • Peter Brown

    Photographer and Instructor, Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, Rice University – Houston, Texas, USA

  • 2020 • Frank Lopez

    Photographer and Teacher, Greenhill School – Addison, Texas, USA

  • 2019 • Tony Chirinos

    Artist, Photographer, and Associate Senior Professor of Photography, Miami Dade College – Miami, Florida, USA

  • 2017 • Cig Harvey

    Maine Media College, Anderson Ranch, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops – Maine, USA

  • 2015 • Joe Johnson

    Head of Photography Department, University of Missouri, Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon, Indiana University, MassArt, Rhode Island College, DeCordova Museum, and the Beach Museum – Missouri, USA

  • 2014 • Aline Smithson

    CENTER Workshop Instructor, Fine Art Department Instructor, Los Angeles Center of Photography – Los Angeles, California, USA

  • 2013 • Jessamyn Lovell

    Art Department Senior Lecturer, University of New Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

  • 2012 • Stephan Hillenbrand

    Associate Professor, University of Houston – Houston, Texas, USA

  • 2011 • Kerry Skarbakka

    Syracuse University – Syracuse, New York, USA

  • 2010 • Sean Kernan

    Savannah College of Art and Design, Maine Photo Workshops, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and the Art Center – Pasadena, Connecticut, USA

  • 2009 • Archy Baker LaSalle

    Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School – Massachusetts, USA

  • 2008 • Patrick Hebert

    Instructor, Art Center College of Design, CA, and Associate Director of Education, AIDS Project – Los Angeles, California, USA

  • 2007 • Joan Dooley

    Bell School of Humanities Academy – Los Angeles, California, USA

  • 2006 • John Weiss

    Professor of Art, University of Delaware – Newark, Delaware, USA

  • 2005 • Rose Marasco

    Professor of Art, University of Southern Maine – Portland, Maine, USA

  • 2004 • Lauren Shaw

    Associate Professor, Emerson College – Boston, Massachusetts, USA

  • 2003 • Susan Kae Grant

    Professor of Photography, Texas Women’s University – Denton, Texas, USA

  • 2002 • Don Gregorio Anton

    Humboldt State University – Arcata, California, USA

  • 2001 • Joleen Mahoney Roe

    Bethlehem Central High School – Delmar, New York, USA

  • 2000 • Catherine Angel

    Associate Professor, University of Nevada – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

  • 1998 • Eddie Soloway

    Instructor, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, National Geographic Presenter – Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Supporter

Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, the Callanan Excellence in Teaching Award, provides recognition and financial support to a photographic educator annually.

Thank you to all of those who helped to recognize unsung heroes of photographic education by nominating to the Callanan Excellence in Teaching Award.