Outstanding Part-time Faculty

Davis Barber’s photo-graphy career began in his parents’ closet. That’s where, at age 7, he found a Kodak home developing kit and developed his first roll of film. After being punished for snooping, his passion lay dormant for years until one day, inspired by a photo of Bruce Springsteen kicking off his 1978 tour, he decided he absolutely had to photograph The Boss.

  After graduating from Cal State Long Beach in 1983 with a B.A. in journalism, Barber worked as staff photographer at the Palm Springs Desert Sun that summer, followed by a winter stint as a photo editor for Gannett Rochester Newspapers in New York. In between those climate extremes, he fulfilled his teenage wish and shot Springsteen in his first big assignment for the Daily Breeze in Torrance. He eventually settled there, where he was a staff photographer and photo editor.

In 1993 he began a freelance career working for clients ranging from The New York Times and Edison International, his work appearing in the pages of Life, Sunset and numerous other publications. Now, as a photojournalism instructor at CSUF, his life experiences suited him to launch students into media careers. They also earned him the Outstanding Part-Time Faculty Award in the Department of Communications in 2005.

Barber finished his masters in communications in December 2005. His most recent personal project was “Faces of Fullerton,” a collection of 2004 portraits celebrating the city’s centennial. He brings students and professional photographers together at his monthly Photographers Gathering—and enjoys chasing his 5-year-old son, Sam.