Getting to Know AU's New Photography Professor Dan Weber

Could you tell me a little bit about your background?
I was born in Boston, and then, when I was about two and a half, my parents moved us here, and I lived here basically until I was 23. I was a student missionary for two years in Iceland. I met my wife there. She was a student missionary from the Atlantic Union College. When you're the only two Americans on an island, guess what happens?

Coming back here was a thirty-year journey, because I graduated from here in ‘91. I went to California for 11 years, I went to Maryland for 19 years, and then, I came back here exactly thirty years after I first graduated, to come and teach.

How did you get into photography?
I did not know what to take when I was going to go to college. I knew I was probably going to come to Andrews. I have a twin brother who knew he wanted to study business, and all my other friends had an idea of what they wanted to study. I had no idea.

I had to come that summer before school started in 1986. My cousin was living with us, and he was in the PT program and had to take a class in the summer. He asked, “Can you drive me to drop me off?” And I said, “Sure.” So I dropped him off, and I was walking around the student center, and they had a display up for a program. It was called Media Technology.

At that time, the College of Technology was new, and they had photography, radio, audio, and music. I am a child of MTV; I grew up on MTV. My dad had one of those big ten-foot satellite dishes in his house. For me, those early music videos, which we all look at now and laugh, were the start of an art form. I thought they were the coolest things. When music videos came out and I started watching films, I was drawn to that medium. And I'm thinking, “Oh, I can actually go to school and study this. This is cool.” So I signed up.

Then they made a mistake. You could do a media technology major or a photography major, but they put me down as photography. I went to my advisor at the time and I said, “Hey, they made a mistake.” He goes, “The first year you take the same classes anyway. Just take the classes and then we'll switch it afterward.” I took my first photography class, and I fell in love with photography.

I learned how I could take a camera, capture experiences, and share it with other people, and I've been blessed with many opportunities. I've traveled to more than 120 countries on assignment. What's cooler than getting paid to go have an adventure, experience something, capture it, come back, and share it with people?

You worked for the NAD in Maryland. Were you also working for the Adventist church when you were living in California?
No, I graduated here in ‘91, and the recession hit here. There was no work and I couldn't find a job. I was getting married, and I was freaking out. Dave Sherwin, a professor of mine, said, “Hey, I know a photographer in California. Why don't you call him and see if he's got work?” I called the guy up the day I graduated, and said, “Hey, if I come out, can I talk to you about a job?” He said, “Oh, yeah, sure.” A week later, I showed up at his door, and he's like, “I was just being nice. I never thought you'd come.” And I said, “I need a job. What am I gonna do?” He said, “I don't have any work. But here's a list of photographers.”

I called, and the last one hired me. I worked for him for a couple of months, and then, the recession hit there too, and the work dried up. I ended up working for myself doing freelance. One of my clients, a large corporation, took me to lunch one day. I was working on a project with them, and they said, “We want you to come work for us.” I went, “Why?” And they said, “We like your work. But we also know you're a really good person, too. We like your ethics and your values.” And I said, “I'm an Adventist. We don't work on weekends.” And they said, “Yeah, that's one of the reasons we like you because we know that.” I'm like, “Okay, cool.” And I worked for them for five years. That was a real growing experience, which got me into video. I learned about corporate work. I got to travel throughout the United States, work on cool assignments, and meet good people.

Out of the blue in 2002, the General Conference called again. Someone contacted me and said, “Hey, you ought to apply for this.” I actually laughed at the person on the phone. They worked for the church, and I never wanted to work for the church. My father-in-law was a pastor, and I saw his struggles, but you do what God wants you to do, and you don't make it about yourself; you make it about Him. He provided a unique opportunity for me, so I was at the General Conference for ten years, and then nine years in the North American Division. I did things backward because most people work their way up and end up at the General Conference. I started there and worked my way down.

Is the church the reason you got to go to all those countries?
I went to work at the beginnings of what we call now the Hope channel, which is a broadcast. I was the producer for the church's first news program. I was producing TV shows, and then, that show went away, and I was the senior producer of the network, but I didn't like being in a studio. I love being out in the field, meeting people, and experiencing cultures. The church was creating a new job where they wanted someone to produce documentary films for them—document short mission stories. I applied and I got the job, so I did that for eight years.

Could you share one of the stories?
One of the stories that really touched me was actually a documentary that I produced. I was going to China, and while I was on the plane getting ready to fly to China, someone emailed me and said, “Hey, there's a story here you need to go get.” By the time I got to Shanghai, we were able to line up to go get this story.

It was an eighteen-year-old girl who was living in a leper colony. She was volunteering her time to live among the lepers, work with them, help them, and I got to go film it. That was such a cool experience to see such a meek, simple person, who was just putting her life out there for God.

I titled the story, “Another Communion,” because I filmed a scene where this guy takes a red bowl like we would use in the foot-washing service, and he's washing this guy's feet. The leprosy sores are all over his foot. He's gonna lose his leg. But with his bare hands, he's washing this guy's feet and cleaning the wounds. In my mind, that was the ultimate act of humility. To put yourself out there for the betterment of someone else. To be able to capture those types of stories was just a unique experience.

What are you most looking forward to at Andrews? What kind of things do you want to impart to your students?
I really like connecting with my students and I try to share my experiences with them. We've got a good balance in our department of people that are academically trained to teach theory, and I'm on the other side. I've got thirty years of real-world experience. I'm going to share from my practical experience what I've learned, and hopefully, they can learn from that. I want the students that come out of here to graduate and be able to go out in the real world and make a difference, to be impactful, in their corner of the world.

Before we close, is there anything else you would like to say?
I'm excited about being at Andrews. I'm passionate about Andrews. I know Andrews isn't perfect. No place is perfect. I think what's great about Andrews is it is very reflective of the church, not just the global church, but the church in North America. We're a diverse church, and this campus is very diverse, not just ethnically or culturally, but also in ideology. The fact that you can actually sit and have conversations with someone who may feel differently than you, or be in a different place than you allows us to learn from each other. That really excites me because we're in a world right now where we don't do that. The main thing is to be aware of where your sources of information are coming from and find a way to actually have viable conversations with people who may disagree with you because that's how we learn from each other.