BRIAN R. TOLBERT Portfolios

BRIAN R. TOLBERT... From that first magic moment as a young scout watching an image appear on a piece of paper submerged in a sorcerers solution, I was hooked. Here was a way to experience, express and capture all the wonders life has to offer. A high school camera club advisor pointed out that I could consider a career with photography. I was off and running! A scholarship from the PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA enabled a formal education at the ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY where I received a BFA in Illustrative Photography and a MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY from the PPA. Stints in the U.S. ARMY, traveling the country as a marketing representative, and five years with EASTMAN KODAK as a photographic information specialist, were the precursors to the ultimate goal of operating & owning a studio. For more than 50 years I’ve produced creative, award winning photographs that have helped numerous regional, national and international clients promote and market their goods and services. In addition to my professional work, I have always felt the need to pursue personal images of my own. In that spirit, I have ongoing documentary series of: Circus Mud Shows, Amish of Lancaster, Humor-Kitsch, Street Photos and singular Fine Art images. In the words of one of my earliest mentors, Minor White, “ When gifts are given to me through my camera, I accept them graciously.” It is my desire to share this knowledge and experience of a lifetime as a professional photographer.

BRIAN R. TOLBERT
Photographic Artist | Documentary Photographer

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Dartmouth College
Hart Island documentary photography series

Colby College, New London, NH
Artists in Their Studios documentary photography series

St. Peter’s Gallery
Circus Mud Shows

Garth Gallery
Tolbert / Musser Photography

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts — 2026

McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville, VA — 2026

Art of the State, Pennsylvania — 2022, 2024

Vermont Photo Gallery

Lancaster Summer Arts Festival
Visions – Group Exhibition of Photographers

American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP)
Philadelphia Chapter Annual Exhibition

Professional Photographers of America
International Convention Exhibitions

Rochester Institute of Technology
RIT Alumni Exhibition

Hurst Art Association
Group Exhibition, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Cornell University
A Day in the Life of a University – Group exhibition of RIT photography students

Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
Photography Exhibition

EDUCATION

Rochester Institute of Technology
BFA, Illustrative Photography

INFLUENTIAL TEACHERS & MENTORS

• Minor White
• Beaumont Newhall
• Dick Durrance
• Dick Frank (Maine Workshops)

brt's personal blog

2020 the year of topsy-turvy.

12/31/2020

Early 2020, while on assignment in NYC, I took some free time to add to my street photo documentary series. I came across a few situations that, in hind sight, seem like precursors for the coming topsy-turvy year we were about to experience. First was the gentleman who decided to strike a crazy pose in front of the Oculus for his girl friend.

Can a humorous or kitschy image improve a bottom line?...Or at least brighten your day?

11/28/2020

Humor: the quality of being amusing or comic in literature or speech (or visually), a mood or state of mind. Kitsch: objects or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. I’ve always had a taste for things that make me smile, chuckle or even laugh out loud, along with an extra side dish of irony or satire.

STUDIO/BIO

BRIAN R. TOLBERT... From that first magic moment as a young scout watching an image appear on a piece of paper submerged in a sorcerers solution, I was hooked. Here was a way to experience, express and capture all the wonders life has to offer. A high school camera club advisor pointed out that I could consider a career with photography. I was off and running! A scholarship from the PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA enabled a formal education at the ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY where I received a BFA in Illustrative Photography and a MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY from the PPA. Stints in the U.S. ARMY, traveling the country as a marketing representative, and five years with EASTMAN KODAK as a photographic information specialist, were the precursors to the ultimate goal of operating & owning a studio. For more than 50 years I’ve produced creative, award winning photographs that have helped numerous regional, national and international clients promote and market their goods and services. In addition to my professional work, I have always felt the need to pursue personal images of my own. In that spirit, I have ongoing documentary series of: Circus Mud Shows, Amish of Lancaster, Humor-Kitsch, Street Photos and singular Fine Art images. In the words of one of my earliest mentors, Minor White, “ When gifts are given to me through my camera, I accept them graciously.” It is my desire to share this knowledge and experience of a lifetime as a professional photographer.

BRIAN R. TOLBERT
Photographic Artist | Documentary Photographer