In a society that places so much focus on the subject of a photograph, there is one person that tends to be overlooked—the photographer. Brad Cox takes pictures at a majority of Chapin High School events and everyone has seen his work on Facebook and in the yearbook, yet few people actually know who he is.

“He’s that guy who takes all of those pictures, right? Isn’t he a junior?” Zach Moorer, a sophomore, said.

While he does take pictures he isn’t a student—his daughter Rachel Cox is, though.

“Isn’t he that professional photographer the school pays to go to games and stuff?” Senior David Finley said.

Photography is actually just a hobby for Cox; he teaches at Midlands Technical College.

“Professional photographers are usually bound by what the customer wants. I would much rather take the kind of photographs I like to take,” Cox said.

He isn’t paid for his pictures, either. He takes time out of his personal life to attend these events.

“I think of photography as a way to volunteer, so I try to balance it with work and family time. Wouldn’t everyone love to volunteer by doing something they love to do?” Cox said.

Cox has been interested in photography since he was in high school where he used a Kodak 110 camera, which used cartridge-based film technology. He got his first Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera, a 35mm Minolta, in 1989 and started using digital cameras about five years ago.

He hasn’t had any formal training but has studied composition and exposure in books and on the Web.

He and his family moved to the Chapin area in 1990 and consider it home now. Family is very important to Cox.

“I don’t really have an interest in photography and he doesn’t pressure me to but my brother likes it so they will go out and take pictures together sometimes,” said his daughter junior Rachel Cox.

Photography is not Cox’s only interest. He also enjoys movies and uses a lot of film clips in his classes. Taking pictures will always be his main hobby, though.

He posts his pictures on Facebook and on his flickr account, flickr.com/fredhandbag.

He takes pictures of sporting events mainly but he also shot the pep rallies, Miss Chapin, and the Oklahoma musical this year. While his main focus is Chapin events, he sometimes takes pictures at Riverbanks Zoo or college games.

He first started taking pictures at Chapin events when his daughter was playing basketball. He enjoyed it and offered to take pictures at other events for yearbook. Now he photographs as many events as he can.

Cox encourages all young aspiring photographers to pursue photography.

“Anyone can take good photos without expensive equipment by taking time to learn about exposure and applying it to whatever camera they have. Every photographer loves to take that one ‘great’ shot,” he said.