Faculty Bios

Ryan Baldwin

Director, Online Photography
School of Photography

Ryan Baldwin is a photographer based in central Oregon. He attended Brooks Institute of Photography and has been involved in many aspects of photography for the past 20 years. Ryan began his career as a photojournalist, which evolved into a broad range of commercial and editorial assignments. His photography has been published in magazines, books, national advertising campaigns and much more. He manages his own stock photo library in addition to representation by leading stock agencies. Ryan’s fine prints are sold to private collectors and available through the Baldwin Gallery.

Ryan’s main focus in recent years is the American Landscape. He continues to seek out new projects and is especially interested in using his photography as a tool for environmental awareness and cultural preservation.

In 2001, Ryan began teaching photography classes at the Academy of Art University where he was responsible for the digital imaging curriculum. In 2007, he shifted his focus to the online program and is currently the Director of Online Photography.

James Goins

Associate Director, Online Photography
School Of Photography

James Goins is a fine art photographer based in San Anselmo, California. He holds a BFA in photography from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis and specializes in mixed media and alternative processes. His photographs and paintings have been exhibited throughout the Midwest and the West Coast. James is a member of the Society for Photographic Education and the College Art Association.

James has worked in education for the past 12 years and is passionate and committed to the arts. As an educator, he believes in creating an environment that encourages communication, collaboration, and the exploration of personal and creative growth. In 2005 James began working at the Academy of Art University and currently serves as the Associate Director of Online Photography.

Tamara Hubbard

Associate Director, Online Photography
School of Photography

Tamara Hubbard is a fine art photographer based in northern California. She has an MFA degree in Photography from the Academy of Art University. Her photography work has been exhibited throughout California and the Pacific Northwest.

Tamara's background in art and education began over 20 years ago. Her passion for the photographic medium has been her primary involvement in the visual arts for the past 10 years. Tamara is a dedicated member of the photographic community and is involved in the Society for Photographic Education, the College Art Association and the Humboldt Arts Council. Tamara began working for the Academy of Art University as a consultant for Online Course and Curriculum Development, and now enjoys teaching for the Academy of Art University as a full-time online instructor in the Photography department.

Katty Ryan Hoover

Full-Time Faculty, Curriculum Coordinator
Online School of Photography

Katty Ryan Hoover was born in Corbin, Kentucky. She received her BA in the College Scholars program at University of Tennessee and her MFA in photography at San Francisco Art Institute. She has also studied at University of Notre Dame and Semester at Sea through the University of Virginia. Her work is aimed at people: narratives of isolation, loneliness, and social tension, and the body as a site of psychological negotiation. Her work has been shown at Tampa Museum of Art, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, James Madison University, and Michael Rosenthal Contemporary Art in San Francisco. Hoover currently lives and works in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Trace Nichols

Full-Time Faculty, Curriculum Coordinator
Online School of Photography

Trace Nichols is a fine art photographer with a passion for expressing the abstract and inferred within her subjects. She holds a BS in Studio Art and an MFA in Photography from the Academy of Art University. Her works have been exhibited in such institutions as the Aspen Art Museum, Boca Raton Museum of Art, and Brevard Art Museum, as well as private collections throughout the United States.

Trace has been working in the field of art for 18 years. She is a full-time faculty member and curriculum coordinator for the Academy’s Graduate Online Photography department. Trace's current focus merges contemplative practices and curriculum with the art of photography.

Adrienne Pao

Adrienne Pao is a Photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. She is currently investigating two photographically based projects. Hawaiian Family Portraits and Dress Tents. Both projects investigate notions of tourism in real and simulated fantasy landscapes, and involve a combination of performative and staged scenarios.

Her work is featured in fashion and pop culture magazines, as well as art journals around the world. Adrienne has shown her work nationally and internationally from the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco, California to Recoleta Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Caixa Cultural in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Adrienne received her MFA in Photography from San Jose State University in 2005, and has been committed to photographic education for the past 6 years. Her work can be viewed at www.adriennepao.com.

Shannon Ayres

Shannon Ayres is a photographer based in the Washington, D.C. region. He has an MFA degree in Photography from Academy of Art University. Shannon began his career 10 years ago as a photojournalist freelancing for numerous magazines on the east coast.  Today, he works in the lyrical documentary tradition of Eugene Atget and Walker Evans. He is currently working on two projects - a series of street photography at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC and a longer multi-year series about vernacular culture and the American Civil War.

Shannon is the course author for PH612 The Nature of Photography, PH613: Color and Light, GS625 The History of Photography, PH655 Digital Montage and PH801 Graduate Thesis Seminar.

Kimberly Mowbray

Kimberly Mowbray is a fine art photographer based in Santa Rosa, California. She has an MFA degree in Photography from Academy of Art University. Kimberly works primarily in alternative processes. Through her photographs she explores the understanding of self and how that interacts with a given environment. By using the photographic medium she is able to show the beauty and serenity in various locations and pair that with her own figure reacting and responding to the stillness of the landscape. Kimberly is an active member in Society for Photographic Education and exhibits her work nationally.