Crew /
Stephen Cook
STEPHEN COOK , BFA
Stephen M. Cook was born in Naples, FL on August 30, 1983.
One of the few true
locals you’ll meet, his family has called the
Fort Myers area home for multiple generations.
From a young age, Stephen
has always had an inclination to creative endeavors,
enhanced by the
detail that throughout his primary education you could always find
at
least one art class in the mix. While enrolled in the IB program at Fort
Myers High
School, Stephen first picked up an SLR camera and was educated
in photography
the traditional way, by developing and printing with FILM!
Stephen also simultaneously
enrolled in studio drawing and ceramics courses
at what is now Edison State College,
allowing him to graduate Fort Myers
High with both an IB diploma and a fine arts portfolio
that lead to being
accepted at the Maryland Institute, College of Art and a move to
Baltimore,
MD.
At the Maryland Institute, College of Art (MICA) Stephen’s skills
were expanded, from
learning to arc weld in sculpture classes to animating
in Flash, all backed by a traditional
liberal arts education. After eventually
settling upon a major in Fine Arts Photography, in
his final years you
could usually find Stephen in one of 3 places: Either on the edge of
a freeway at 3AM standing in Maryland winter weather taking 15 minute
exposures of
the city of Baltimore at night, in the basement of his Baltimore
rowhome working in
Photoshop or other design programs on his computer
situated next to a window which
didn’t quite close all the way
(usually also in winter weather), or stumbling around in the
dark in
one of the several darkrooms on campus.
After graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, Stephen decided to return
to his
hometown excited about the prospect of being able to wear flip-flops
year round. After
taking some time off after a lifetime of schooling,
Stephen worked his way through various
contract jobs, time as a photographer’s
assistant, and an extended stint in the youth
sports photography industry
designing all of their graphic templates. With a marked
interest in growing
as an artist and designer, Stephen joined BOOST in 2009 in order
to continue
his journey.
