An Interview with Professor Elizabeth Turk

JK: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have 1 photograph to look at for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?
ET: A photograph I made with a Holga camera of a dog, suspended in air, as she was diving into a lake at twilight.

JK: Who is your favorite (non-photographer) artist?
ET: Anselm Kiefer

JK: What’s the hardest thing about teaching photography?
ET: Balancing teaching and doing my personal work.

JK: What’s your favorite word?
ET: Spectacular

JK: What’s your least favorite word?
ET: Chick

JK: If you couldn’t be an artist/educator, what profession would you choose?
ET: Something that involved classical music/opera.

JK: What’s your favorite color?
ET: Green

JK: What’s your Zodiac sign?
ET: Libra

JK: What was your childhood nickname?
ET: Big Otis

JK: What’s the best book you’ve ever read?
ET: Crime and Punishment

JK: What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten from a teacher?
ET: Don’t take yourself too seriously and never throw anything away.

JK: Do you have any children? If so, what are their names and ages?
ET: I have a four-legged daughter named Ruby. She is six years old and well above average.

JK: If you could take any class at SCAD, what would it be?
ET: FURN 200 (Materials and Techniques)

JK: What’s your favorite TV show?
ET: Six Feet Under

JK: Why is photography such a powerful medium?
ET: Because anyone can make a photograph but not everyone is a photographer.

JK: If you could go out to dinner with anyone, living or dead, whom would you choose?
ET: Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States (2001-2003)

JK: Do you have any guilty pleasures? If so, fess up.
ET: Hot dogs from the Varsity with onion rings and fries!

JK: What’s the best thing about photography?
ET: It is magic.