Alumni Profile: Peter Ross ’85
Peter Ross ’85 is a Brooklyn-based commercial and creative photographer with a client portfolio that reads like a list of the most prominent businesses, designers, institutions, and magazines in the world. But the first publication he ever shot for was Forward, Greenhills School’s yearbook. The Alumni Office recently caught up with Ross to learn more about his journey from an earnest student with a used camera to one of today’s most sought-after portrait photographers, and how it feels to be celebrating his 40th reunion next summer.
Tell us about your Greenhills experience
I entered Greenhills as a 7th grader, which was a different path than both of my older brothers, who attended boarding school on the East Coast. I really appreciated the size of the school and the connection with my teachers and cross country coaches–you could stand out in certain ways and I never felt lost. At 16 my parents gave me a used camera (instead of the car I wanted!), and I started taking pictures for the yearbook. I can trace my entire career back to Greenhills and the old darkroom next to Mr. Pasich’s physics classroom.
Bring us up-to-date on your journey since graduation
I went on to major in English at the University of Michigan, and freelanced as a photojournalist for the Michigan Daily and Ann Arbor News during school, and then moved to Chicago and ultimately ended up in New York City. Today I live in Clinton Hill (Brooklyn) and work for myself as a commercial photographer for clients as varied as American Express, the Museum of Modern Art, Target, and Vanity Fair. I gravitated towards portraiture, because I enjoy the interaction of dropping into someone’s life for 15 minutes or an hour and the quiet introspection of capturing their spirit. I get a rush from seeing how other people live, and particularly enjoy photographing people who live life by their own rules and who follow their own direction.
How do you unwind?
For the last 18 years, I’ve had a retreat in the Catskills, a tiny 1830s crooked barn house, where I’m able to tune out and just focus on personal projects and interests: gardening, forest management, maintaining stone walls, hiking. I always meet lots of other artists and creatives in the mountains, who continue to infuse my own body of work with additional meaning and potential corporate audiences. My career is all about connections and word-of-mouth.
Thoughts on your upcoming 40th reunion in June?
Insane! How is that possible? I see classmate Matthew Sporzynski around New York every so often, and always head up to Maine to purchase my Subarus from Doug Weisz ’85. I always read the Greenhills Forum magazine for updates and look forward to celebrating with the Class of 1985 and the other milestone years in the spring!
