Written by Sylvia Styles // Photo by Macy Cox
Many of the pictures in buildings on campus and on the Harding website come from one photographer, the same one often sighted walking around by the Benson Auditorium stage with a camera during chapel: Jeff Montgomery. He is a Harding alumnus and current director of photographic services, a role he has had for 33 years. Montgomery has a gift for telling stories through pictures.
Montgomery grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He got a camera for his birthday when he was in the sixth grade. Mary Tittle, a member of his church, also had the same camera: a little 110 film camera. Tittle would come over to Montgomery’s house, and they would take pictures and experiment with their new cameras. That was when he fell in love with the art of photography.
He attended Memphis Harding Academy and met his wife, Julie, on a chorus tour. They were married in May 1990. He and his wife attend College Church of Christ — where he serves as an elder — and teach 4-year-olds in Sunday School. They’ve been married for 33 years and have five children: Jenna, Jamie, Jackson, Josie and Jalin. The youngest, Jalin, is a senior at Harding this year. Montgomery has one grandchild, Lottie, who he says is the life of the party.
The average day in a photographer’s life includes taking lots of pictures. Montgomery usually wakes up at around 7:30 a.m. and heads to campus with his camera charged and ready for the day. The first thing he does is check his schedule. He has constant projects going on. Last week, one day consisted of taking pictures at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, shooting Center for Professional Excellence (CPE) internship information sessions and covering a soccer game. This is not to mention the hours behind the screen sorting out the hundreds of pictures taken throughout the day. Montgomery noted that usually when he gets back from a sports event, he has more than 2,000 pictures to go through before narrowing it down to 500 or 600. Because it is the Centennial year, it is important to capture the University’s history.
Montgomery also teaches a photography class on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students in this class are required to take 500 “keeper photos” over the course of the semester and turn them in for the final. Montgomery said he has a passion for working with students.
“It keeps me young,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery offered advice to beginner photographers.
“Take a college-level photography class from the journalistic point of view, and work for Student Publications as much as possible,” Montgomery said.
Junior Jenna Gaessler, who took his class last spring, said Montgomery’s class is a great way to explore photography.
“It’s a must-take if you’re interested in learning about the art of photography,” Gaessler said.
One of the mottos that Montgomery tries to live out in his class and job is Colossians 3:23 which says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Montgomery said he also clings to a quote from Jay Mazel, which says, “If you go out, things will happen. If you don’t go out, you’ll hear about it.” Photography tells a story, and it takes a keen eye and a ready hand to capture key, meaningful moments.
Senior Macy Cox, head photographer for the Bison, said Montgomery has made an impact on her Harding career.
“Jeff has not only inspired me to be a better student but has also challenged me to become a great photographer,” Cox said. “He has taught me to not just focus on pressing the button but to focus on looking deeper into the subject and figuring out what would tell the story best.”
Montgomery is a member of the University Photographers Association of America. Their tagline is, “We capture the visual history of higher education.” Montgomery said he takes this motto into account as the school photographer because he is the eyes of all the people who aren’t present and has to show them what is going on. Life is a story, and photography is capturing moments of that story in picture form.
