3 minute read
Q&A with Sil Azevedo
What brought you to FWCD?
I have been a fan of FWCD for a long time. When I was a teacher at Parish [Episcopal School] in Dallas, every year, I would drive to FWCD to bring my students’ works to the Black & White Images Competition and Exhibition and thought what a great school this is. Things fell into place in 2017 after I traveled around the world. The Upper School Photography Teacher position opened, and I jumped at the opportunity. I loved every minute of it.
When did you know you wanted to be a teacher?
I came into teaching without planning to. I was an architect before I opened my photography studio, so this was my natural path. There’s a lot in common between photography and architecture: spatial vision, the combination of design and technique, existential and artistic aspects. In 2004, Parish was looking for someone who could teach both darkroom and digital, which was rare in the early 2000s. A friend recommended me, and the rest is history. I was instantly hooked. My teaching philosophy was simple and straightforward: listen and care. Everything else follows.
You gave a Last lecture of sorts to Upper School students. what did you share?
Mr. [Eric] Lombardi [Head of School] asked me to speak to the students about a story I’d shared with him when I first started at the School. My presentation was titled Scenes from Around the World, a slideshow of photography that is meaningful to me. My wife, Adriana, and I took an around-the-world trip in 2016 after a home fire took most of our possessions. We decided to reset by taking a 360-degree trip around the world, visiting popular and lesser-known destinations, including Madrid, Provence, Dubrovnik, Budapest, Athens and the Himalayas. That trip resulted in a solo exhibition featuring 30 painstakingly curated images from thousands. It was after the show that I posed a question to myself: ’What did I learn? How was I transformed? What’s next?’ FWCD became that ’What’s next.’
What do you love most about FWCD?
Ah … there are so many! My relationship with my students. I learn from them as much as they do from me. Maybe more… My favorite assignment by far is working in series. There is something very special about a student researching a theme they love and photographing it consistently to create a monograph. The faculty here are an incredibly gifted and dedicated group of people who always inspire me. Sitting and talking with them at lunchtime was a daily highlight for me. FWCD is an extraordinary place, and I will always be a Falcon
