Principal Photographer

If you are a current Barnard College employee please use the internal career site to apply for this position.

Job:

Principal Photographer

Barnard College seeks a Principal Photographer to serve as the Colleges lead photographer and a co-owner of its visual brand. This is the principal photography role at Barnard: the Principal Photographer directs and produces photography across the life of the College from major events lectures and portraiture to the candid editorial images that document campus life and partners with the Creative Director and Editorial Director to set and uphold Barnards visual standards. The right candidate brings extensive editorial experience moves comfortably between news coverage and more artistic work and operates as a strategic partner and is someone who comes to the table with visual ideas understands what a photograph needs to do for a story and takes ownership of the Colleges image from capture through post-production and archiving.

Job Description:

• Lead photography for the College: Capture high-quality storytelling-driven images across campus: major events lectures headshots and portraits and candid editorial photography. Provide on-site coverage for high-impact College events including evenings and weekends as needed with occasional local travel for off-site events and portraits.
• Shape the visual brand: Partner with the editorial digital and design teams to produce visuals aligned with the Colleges messaging priorities. Participate in editorial planning meetings and contribute proactively to content strategy advising on the strongest visual positioning for each story. Ensure all College imagery meets editorial and visual brand standards.
• Own post-production: Edit crop color-correct and retouch in line with the Colleges style using Adobe Creative Suite or equivalent tools. Write clear accurate captions and alt text that are accessible and aligned with Barnards editorial standards.
• Build and maintain the image library: Work with the Creative Director to support a centralized image library keeping files organized tagged and easily discoverable so that teams across the College can reuse assets. Work with writers and team members to gather supporting imagery from story subjects.
• Handle production needs including lighting setups tripods and monopods seamless and gear transport. Operate and help maintain the Communications Departments photography equipment.
• Perform other responsibilities as needed.
• This position will report to the Editorial Director.

Skills Qualifications & Requirements:

• 5 years of professional experience in editorial institutional or newsroom photography with a portfolio demonstrating range across events portraiture and editorial storytelling

• Demonstrated fluency in editorial photography with a strategic message-driven lens and a proven ability to capture dynamic images under tight deadlines

• Strong post-production skills (Lightroom Photoshop or equivalent)

• Experience with digital asset management and a commitment to clean searchable archives

• The ability to write captions that are informative accessible and aligned with messaging goals

• Sound judgment and strong interpersonal and collaboration skills with experience working across editors designers and stakeholders to align on creative direction and deliver on deadline

• Organizational skills to manage multiple shoots priorities and stakeholders at once while maintaining a high bar for quality

• Self-direction initiative and genuine enthusiasm for documenting the life of a college campus

• Proficiency with professional camera equipment lighting kits and stabilizing tools

• Willingness to work evenings and weekends as needed

• This is a full-time on-campus position as on-campus presence is essential to the role.

• The Communications Department provides a Canon EOS R6 Mark III and supporting camera accessories lighting and studio equipment.

Salary Range: $78000 - $83000 annually

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors including but not limited to departmental budgets qualifications experience education licenses specialty and training. The above hiring range represents the Colleges good faith and reasonable estimateof the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Company:

Barnard College

Time Type:

Full time