Michael Cunningham for Ed Tech Magazine

I photographed Michael Cunningham, UT Austin's Director of IT, for Ed Tech Magazine last month. Cunningham has shifted disaster preparedness from causes to effects - instead of preparing for a tornado, they prepare for the effects from that tornado. It's a simple idea, but one that gives the system redundancy and flexibility in the face of any disaster. We did the shoot a few days after a massive bomb threat was called into campus forcing a university-wide evacuation. "We had a plan for that one, too," quipped Cunningham.


Ed Tech - Images by Julia Robinson

The Last UT Hex Rally for Reuters American Service

The annual Thanksgiving game between the University of Texas and Texas A&M has come to an end. The rivalry that started in 1894 has grown to be one of the most revered match-ups in the NCAA. With A&M's move to the SEC next year, and Texas' non-conference schedule full through 2018, it will be a long while before these two teams meet again.


The University of Texas holds a hex rally the week before the big game, a tradition started in 1941 to break a curse and string of losses to the Aggies. Burning red candles during the rally has (arguably) led Texas to win 75 of 118 games. 

This last rally was bittersweet for Horns fans and students. They added another W to the record last Thursday, but everyone wants to know when the rivalry will be born again.

UT Men's Tennis

I do love good jube.  No.2 Virginia swept No.6 Texas 5-2 on the match, but UT senior Kellen Damico had quite a day against UVA. 

Senior Kellen Damico, left, and freshman David Holiner, right, celebrate a match point over UVA's Jarmere Jenkins and Sanam Singh during doubles play.

UT Senior Kellen Damico defeated UVA's Jarmere Jenkins in a hard fought three-set singles match.  Damico prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Shakespeare at Winedale for UT Life & Letters

This year marked the 40th anniversary of Shakespeare at Winedale.  What started in 1970 as a UT English class in Shakespearean performance has blossomed into a rich theater tradition in Round Top, Texas.  Each summer, students descend on the tiny town halfway between Houston and Austin, population 88, to perfect and perform three plays at the 19th century barn turned Elizabethan stage.  In celebration of the 40th milestone, alumni of the program gathered at Round Top for a week long theater immersion and encore performance. 

I spent an afternoon shooting verticals for UT's Life & Letters magazine, an interesting exercise when the vast majority of photography is horizontal.  Oh, the hardships we endure for magazine covers.  Ha. 

I'd love to go back for the entire week next year.  The alumni are tightly knit, even though many haven't seen each other since their college days.  There's a bond with their former professors James Ayres and James Loehlin, the barn itself, even the brutal summer heat.  Something life changing happens every summer at Winedale and it's still as palpable to the class of 1971 as it is to the class of 2011.

Kristin Johnson, alumni of the 1987 and '88 seasons, awaits her cue from the side-door of the Winedale stage during a 40th reunion performance.

At left, all hands are on stage for the induction of the Taming of the Shrew.  At right, Tara Kirkland leans over an air conditioning unit backstage.

 

 

 

At left, a sign on the dressing room reminds actors to stay silent during a performance with a quote from Henry the Sixth "Sweet Aunt, be quiet...". At right, Terry Galloway goes through her lines backstage before the start of the 40th anniversary performance of Shakespeare at Winedale.

Cast members gather before the curtain.