Jesse Halpern
Assistant Professor & Coordinator Commercial Photography
Jesse started with photography at an early age in the family darkroom in the basement. Having always had a deep love for the process of image making and documenting life around him, he chose to pursue photography in university. Graduating with a degree in Advertising Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2000, he moved to New York city to pursue his career as a commercial photographer. Having assisted for some of the industries’ top photographers he then launched his own commercial photography business in 2002. Shooting for clients like the Village Voice, Canyon Ranch Resorts, Travel Holiday Magazine, and various other clients: Jesse James photography had carved it’s place in the field of commercial photography. Many shoots and clients later the opportunity to travel and photograph in Asia presented itself, so Jesse packed up his camera bags and headed abroad. As an English and Photography teacher in Korea for the next ten years, Jesse was able to pursue his business internationally as well as his own fine-art photography projects. This inspired him to attend the New Hampshire Institute of the Arts in 2016, where he completed his Masters of Fine Arts in Photography in the summer of 2018. He has exhibited his photographs both nationally and internationally. Prof Halpern is a recent addition to the department where his international experience, coupled with his commercial and fine-art photographic career, will be a great benefit to the department and the commercial photography majors specifically.
