Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 9:35 a.m.
Picture this
What: Exhibit of photos by John Broussard.
When: Through March 18.
Where: City of Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd.
Cost: Free.
Information: Call 229-4800 for exhibit hours.
Every day is a new look at beauty for John Broussard.
"My mind is always going -- as far as photography, every day there is an image there," Broussard said.
Broussard is a Las Vegas photographer with an exhibit through March 18 at the City of Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services, which features photos of notable local citizens, accompanied by plaques emphasizing their good deeds that earned them a place in the show, as well as Broussard's take on the art of photography.
"They are individuals I have met over the years who have affected me for who they are," he said.
Among the exhibit portraits are those of Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, Las Vegas publisher Ramon Savoy, North Las Vegas Police Chief Joey E. Tillmon, broadcast pioneer Jack "The Rapper" Gibson and Air National Guard Maj. Gen. Irene Trowell-Harris.
It's the spirit behind the public persona that intrigues Broussard.
"We all have something to give back to society in a special way," he said. "What I'm trying to do here is through this. As young people come through the door, it is something they can look at and look up to."
In this, his third exhibit, Broussard features local citizens for who they are behind their titles and glimpses beauty in the seemingly ordinary people or situations around him.
"I want to capture the inner beauty and that moment," he said, noting that his subjects are people who have inspired him.
"These people have touched me in a special way," Broussard said, adding that he hopes they can be role models for younger generations. "I'm just trying to spark some interest, that's why I always have a mentor section."
He chooses a half dozen local citizens for each exhibit. The current exhibit of people he admires includes boxing referee Richard Steele.
"He's not only a world renowned referee but also he has given back, he has talked with the young people, he's trying to encourage them through sports," Broussard said. "I just didn't want to recognize him as a referee but as someone who is doing something positive in (his) life."
A photo of Chief Tillmon, a fellow former Air Force man, features the North Las Vegas top cop in uniform, sitting behind his desk. "It's nice to see him come up through the ranks," Broussard said. "He's done a lot for people."
Maj-Gen. Trowell-Harris posed for her portrait in a daunting black robe, but her face is relaxed into a gentle smile.
"I met her at the Tuskegee Airmen convention at the Riviera a few months back and I watched her," Broussard said. "I liked the way she carried herself and also how she was with the young people.
"That's what I really look for -- how they interact with young people. And, are they really out there doing something good for the community?"
The other two-thirds of his exhibit, he said, focuses on what Broussard sees in the subject and what emotions he can depict through light and texture. "I approached each one of these individuals because there was a special quality about them," Broussard said. "I just wanted to capture that moment."
After 23 years in the Air Force, Broussard now free-lances for the Las Vegas Sentinel newspaper and is chief of photo operations at Nellis Air Force base, supervising 10 photographers for various military publications.
That's a long way from where he started.
In 1968 Broussard had just graduated high school in Bakersfield, Calif, and joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Ray Geers, an owner of a Bakersfield photography store, approached the NAACP to ask for a young volunteer to take under his wing.
"(The volunteer) was going to start as a janitor and he was going to teach that person the basic skills of photography," Broussard said.
Although he didn't own a camera, he raised his hand immediately. "I've always been interested in art, that sort of thing."
Between cleaning up the shop and helping customers, Broussard learned to process film, expose a print and watch the final image slowly appear in the developer solution.
"It was like magic," Broussard said.
For Christmas that year, Geers bought Broussard a gift he would never forget: a small instamatic camera.
His first venture with the camera consisted of pictures of his aunts and uncles posing for the teenage Broussard as they lined up in the front yard. The black and white, 8x10 photo would be the only one of them all together.
"I still have a copy of that," he said."It was magic to me to go through the process of developing and printing. It wasn't the best of quality but it was my first image."
After working with Geers a year or two, Broussard attended junior college and learned the theory of photography. That's when the possibilities of the craft opened up to him; how light, space and shape could make a photo leap from the flat surface and affect someone with motion and message.
He joined the military in 1971 to continue his education in photography. "But it didn't quite work out that way," he said.
After becoming a military fuel specialist, Broussard spent his off hours in the camera hobby shop. He never gave up.
Eventually he convinced his superiors that he could better serve his country in the realm of photo and audio visual repair. "I was able to work with photography as well because I prepared the equipment," Broussard said. "I had access to the processors, printers and so forth."
To this day, Broussard weaves patriotic photos throughout his exhibits. "I try to have one or two military images because I'm really fond of what the military does for someone's life," he said. "I went through 23 years of it so I want to give something back to let people know that we are out there, we are patriotic and we are all giving back to our country. That's how we are out there walking around free."
In 1980 Broussard bought a house in Las Vegas. Although he had been stationed in such picturesque countries as Germany, France and Spain, Broussard chose to come back to the desert.
"I love Vegas," he said. "In 1975 I was working on the range repairing the motion picture cameras. It was pretty interesting out there."
In 1992 Broussard began to attend night school, which his wife, Dwana, a guidance counselor at Nellis, encouraged him to do. "It's tough when you are out there preaching the importance of education to younger people when you are not doing it," Broussard said. "I wanted to show that if I can go back to school at my age, you can do it. It's not easy, but you can do it."
After retiring from the Air Force in 1994, Broussard volunteered at the photo shop at the Community College of Southern Nevada and finished his bachelor's degree in secondary education. He enjoyed helping students find the magic of their own art through photography.
"I've had a blessed life," he said. "I've been fortunate enough over the years."
Last year Broussard won the 1998 Civilian of the Year award from the Nellis Air Force Base 99 support group. "Hard work pays off," he said. "Hopefully I will be able to take what I have learned over the years and give it back to the younger people."
Which he also does through his photography
In one photo in the exhibit, a father and his three sons look out from a deep black background, orange African cloth draping their shoulders and waists.
"I especially wanted to show the unity of a black family together," he said.
"We as society are in the fast-paced lane ... The family element is suffering because of that. We all need to slow down and take a look."
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