FEATURE
Brendan Hearns '26 has just graduated from Gilmour, yet his résumé already includes the Kentucky Derby, the Detroit Grand Prix, NFL Celebrity Softball games, the Tour de France and the Running of the Bulls. This fall, he is studying visual communications at Syracuse University's renowned Newhouse School. Hearns credits Mr. Most with nurturing his passion through multiple photography classes while also introducing him to professional sports photographer Doug Beigie. A longtime Cleveland Browns photographer, Beigie often stood alongside Hearns on the sidelines of Gilmour football games as he shot photos, offering advice, sharing techniques and helping him continue to grow. “Gilmour was incredibly supportive of my interest in photography,” Hearns says. “The teachers, advisors and administrators encouraged my passion, and the coaches welcomed me as an extension of their teams. That made all the difference.” Read these stories side by side and the similarities become hard to miss.
None of these alumni begin by talking about cameras or editing software. Instead, they remember the people who encouraged them to keep going. A teacher who stayed after class. Someone who loaned out equipment. A mentor who made an introduction, offered honest feedback or trusted a student with a project that felt just a little beyond their experience. For some, there was a single moment when everything clicked. For others, it happened gradually, one class, one assignment and one conversation at a time. However it began, each found someone at Gilmour who helped turn curiosity into confidence. Years later, their work appears on football sidelines, at international sporting events, in advertising campaigns and at weddings around the world. Different destinations, but the same starting point.
Photo taken by Brendan Hearns ’26 at a Lancer football game
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