The Clark staff has recently had a unique addition in their art department: Greg Zamlich is the school’s new photography teacher.

The energetic and motivated teacher grew up in Cupertino, located in Northern California. He was a dedicated athlete and said he loved sports, especially football, track and wrestling. He said he continued to wrestle at San Jose State University for about four to five years. There, he majored in graphic design and illustration.

“I was an artist ever since I was a little kid,” Zamlich said. “I loved watching cartoons, and I was always drawing, since it was a natural ability that I’ve always had.” He added that photography was also a big part of his life and that he really enjoyed photography as well.

After Zamlich graduated from college, he created a portfolio with the help of a classmate, who later became his wife. The two took a life drawing class together at the San Francisco Art Academy taught by Barbara Bradley. “[Bradley] was a fantastic life drawing teacher,” he said. “She had a connection with Disney, as she had worked with Disney for a number of years.”

He said that once a year, Disney would send out scouts to look for potential people to work for the company. After a series of interviews and job applications, Zamlich eventually got offered an internship at Disney’s department of consumer products. He accepted the offer and moved to Southern California for the job.

Zamlich ended up working for Disney for almost five years as a character artist, where he contributed in drawing numerous characters, namely Winnie the Pooh. After, he continued working there as a freelancer.

As a result of his past experience working with graphic design, Zamlich said, “I am going to implement storytelling, which I have learned through the process of character art, into the class.” Nonetheless, Mr. Zamlich said that he often incorporated many aspects of photography into his work, so he does have a good understanding of the field.

He considered teaching after a friend encouraged him to use the knowledge he learned in the industry and teach it to others. “I’m really enjoying teaching here,” Zamlich said. “I found that I’m having a really good connection with the students.” Zamlich said that everyone has been very polite and welcoming to him. He simply hopes to teach his students everything he has learned from working on a plethora of projects with Disney.