Chris Alberti

Major at Williams: Religion

I arrived at Williams planning to major in religion and with aspirations to be a photographer. I took up black and white photography in earnest in middle school, and my father set up a B&W darkroom in our house in Lenox. I was our high school yearbook photo editor for two years, did some freelance work over the summers, and had a few modest exhibits before college. I achieved the first goal, majoring in religion, before ultimately going into the family business (law school).

Prof. Bill Pearson, himself an accomplished architectural photographer, allowed me into the senior art major B&W photography course as a freshman. I completed the color photography course as a senior. Both courses were highly technical as well as creative. Our first assignments were to reproduce the Kodak Grey Scale, and later the Kodak Color Scale, both “true north” for serious photographers.

Photography has been my primary hobby throughout my working life, including 15 years living and working in China. I took up photography again in earnest when I returned to the United Sates in 2016 and stopped working full time. Our move to the Maryland Eastern Shore in fall 2023 has presented wonderful opportunities for wildlife photography, a new area for me. I am not a “birder," but I find photographing birds, and particularly birds in flight, as a welcome challenge both artistically and technically. I have shared several recent bird photographs in the collection below.

I also enjoy street and travel photography, portraits, and landscapes. Other examples of my work are on my website and Facebook page. I am forever grateful to Professor Pearson for laying a foundation for thriving during retirement.