BIOGRAPHY

Big Bend N.P., Texas. Photo by Marc Hamel. I was born in West Virginia in 1981 and raised there by my mother, an English teacher, and father, a businessman. I attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and received a B.A. in print journalism. During college, I worked four years at the student newspaper, part-timed and interned as a photographer at the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, and freelanced for The Associated Press state bureau. After graduation, I worked stints as a reporter and then a photographer at newspapers in Charleston, West Virginia, and central Florida, respectively. I then attended The University of Texas at Austin, where I received a M.A. in documentary photojournalism, completing a project on family and community struggle in southern West Virginia. Since graduating in 2007, I have been an assistant professor at the Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications, where I teach advertising and print design. I continue to work as a freelance photographer and graphic designer in the region, and also plan to pursue new projects documenting the social injustices of Appalachia. In June 2008 at the Good News Mountainer Garage Gallery in Charleston, I had a solo exhibition of my photographs of southern West Virginia entitled "Left Alone: The Fear and Pride of Isolate Appalachia." Later that year, images from that project were featured in a group show at the Hansford Street Art Exhibit and Buswater Exhibiti in Charleston. Based in Huntington, West Virginia, I live with my girlfriend Heidi Schmalbach, a freelance interior, event and fashion stylist. I spend my free time eating good food, watching film, supporting the Manchester United Football Club, and participating in various athletic activities such as soccer, cycling and basketball. I am available for hire for photography (portrait, fashion, commercial, wedding, documentary) and design (advertising, promotional, invitation, product). I can be reached at 304.543.4800 or mike@andrickphoto.com.

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