Sam Wright first picked up a little point-and-shoot camera as a teenager just for fun, not thinking too much about his future. Now, he plans on starting a business centered around the craft after he graduates from Missouri S&T. 

“I was always creative,” Wright says. “I want to do something business-related because I’ve always had that marketing mindset.” 

Wright is a senior in business and management systems at Missouri S&T, a member of the track team and Kappa Alpha, president of S&T’s photography club and has been S&T’s student photographer since August 2023. 

A trip that changed everything 

His love of photography didn’t fully grow until his first year at S&T. That summer, he traveled to Costa Rica on his senior trip with his high school class and wanted to capture the moments with a real camera. He said that trip had been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. He took his first paycheck from a part-time job at an event-services company in St. Louis to buy his first camera. 

“Before I got an expensive camera, I was trying to get my hands on any camera I could. I asked my grandparents and parents for cameras,” Wright says. “I got a nice one because I was going to Costa Rica. I had to capture that moment. I knew it was going to be awesome.” 

After Costa Rica, Wright was completely hooked on photography. 

“It made me think about what I want to do,” Wright says. “I had a bug. Instantly I said, ‘okay, how can I make this, and do this as much as possible?’” 

He started setting up at-home photoshoots in his family’s garage to take free photos of his friends as practice. 

“I would set shop lights that my dad had in his shop with the projector screen as the backdrop,” Wright says. “Obviously, over time, you learn so much. Everything has been self-taught, and YouTube became my best friend.” 

Behind the scenes at S&T 

He then got a job as a student photographer with Miner Athletics, taking photos of various home games. That’s how he met Michael Pierce, a professional photographer who works at S&T. In 2023, Wright became S&T’s student photographer, gaining valuable experience with photography and marketing skills. 

One of his first experiences was helping take photos for S&T’s Celebration of Nations event, then a fall “lifestyle” photoshoot on campus with Pierce. 

“I got to do portraits with the students while Mike was doing staged marketing shots,” Wright says. “That was a good experience.” 

Wright has also helped with sports photography, portraits, the Haunted Mine, St. Pat’s events, Innovation Lab photos, laboratory photos and much more. He says the laboratory photoshoots were the most fun and helpful to improve his skills. 

“That’s probably where I learned the most, because Mike is absolutely in his element,” Wright says. “He would say, ‘Let’s put a red light over here, let’s put some fog in the air and put this over here.’ I was learning how intricate it can get.” 

Once he learned more in the role, Pierce assigned Wright his first photoshoot to manage on his own. The project was to do a photoshoot with Kummer Vanguard Scholars students to use in marketing materials and a news release about the program. 

Wright says he planned it out beforehand by talking to the students, managing the time of the shoots, then finally taking the photos in the Innovation Lab Atrium. 

“That was 100% my gig,” he says. “It’s super nice to feel like I can do it solo, which was showing I learned enough for Mike to trust me and be able to do that … and I got to put my own little twist on it.” 

Wright is also president of S&T’s Photography Club. 

“It’s helped so much with my photography,” Wright says. “It’s a great way to express my creativity and develop team building and leadership skills.” 

The Photography Club students participate both on and off campus, capturing anything from local nature scenes, the St. Pat’s concerts and student club collaborations. For example, they helped S&T’s India Association photograph the Diwali celebration. 

The club also hosts campus photography competitions, which was Wright’s idea to start up again this past year. 

“It was the first one in probably over five years, so I wanted to bring it back. It was a success,” Wright says. “Lots of time was put into everything. We got sponsored by Chancellor Mo Dehghani, and it had a handsome cash prize.” 

The club also hosts speakers at their meetings, including Noppadol Paothong from the Missouri Conservationist magazine. 

“It’s been cool to learn from other professionals with different niches in the photography field,” Wright says. 

A future of entrepreneurship 

In the future, Wright hopes to use his education and skills he developed to open his own creative production company, most likely in St. Louis. 

“My dad owns a business, so I’ve always been in that realm, and had that entrepreneur mindset,” Wright says. “And in business management systems, I learned that tech-focus with business, which was right up my alley.” 

As S&T’s student photographer, Wright says Pierce was a great mentor for him, and that he encouraged his future business ventures. Pierce also helped Wright learn about the marketing and networking side of photography. 

“He showed me that this was a legitimate thing I could do,” Wright says. “There’s so many different things that he taught me like studio lighting, how to conduct a professional photoshoot, how to shoot photos with intention and how to ‘make’ a photo rather than ‘take’ a photo.” 

Pierce said since he’s so passionate about photography, he’s been able to push Wright in both his student work at S&T and his own personal work. 

“The biggest lesson that we’ve talked about from Day One is to do everything with intention,” Pierce says. “From understanding what the photos are going to be used for and shooting to fit that need, to placing lights, selecting modifiers and choosing lenses — everything should be intentional. There’s so much visual ‘noise’ in the world, and more being created every second, that we need to be purposeful and targeted to cut through and deliver our message. Sam has grasped that, and I think he’ll be able to take that forward into his career.” 

When it comes to his future business, Wright hopes to do commercial photography for other businesses. Turns out, Wright already has some business experience during his time at S&T doing freelance local portrait studio photoshoots, S&T senior shoots, couples’ photos and working with local artists. 

“That’s been a nice way to get myself out there,” Wright says. “My goal down the road is to turn my creativity into something big.” 

Wright will graduate in May and has advice to incoming students: get involved. 

“Being busy is scary, but it’s also really important,” Wright says. “You find friends, you learn new skills whether it’s people skills, marketing or social skills. If I was just a student going to class, I would still be that shy guy in his shell.” 

Wright will head to Detroit this summer to kickstart his career as a photography intern at Rocket Mortgage. He hopes to use this opportunity to build his portfolio and network, ultimately using it as a stepping stone to break into a production studio. 

About Missouri University of Science and Technology 

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.