Visual Media Production

Sean Curtis Patrick is the Director of Visual Media Production and leads the URM/VMP team in creating and sharing your WWU stories with the greater world. Since being at Western, he has been designing the logistical framework and infrastructure to create material efficiently while also creating content for many different areas at Western. In the summer of 2022, he was embedded with the WWU Honors College Study Abroad program to Ecuador and the Galapagos. More recently, he has created a low impact, custom studio space for his team to interview subjects in their productions.
 
Originally hailing from Traverse City, Michigan, he came to WWU from The University of Michigan's Center for Academic Innovation where he worked on increasing the accessibility of higher ed programming and online courses for the world. While there, Sean co-created mini courses called Teach-Outs, made dozens of Massive Open Online Courses, two documentaries, and won a Regional Emmy (Michigan Chapter, 2020) for his documentary about a National Science Foundation Expedition to Greenland. Sean also pioneered a way of using a consumer level drone to scan a glacier in 3D photogrammetry for environmental and educational awareness while on that Greenland expedition.
He has also worked at The University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs and spent a year working freelance for Stanford Arts. He began his career in the private sector working for major European automotive companies while at an agency. 
 
He graduated from Northern Michigan University a long time ago now with a BS in Media Production and New Technologies, with a concentration in Photography and Filmmaking. 
 
He loves living in Bellingham with his fiancée and accomplished musician and artist, Elise, and their four cats (Martenot, Monkii, Skittle, and Carl). In his time away from the office you can find Sean and Elise rock climbing, bike riding, hiking, mountaineering, motorcycling, planning their next expedition, painting, ceramics, and making music. Sean has released over a dozen full length records on many labels and has had a hand in many of others music, namely through directing music videos and creative direction. Sean plays two very rare instruments himself, namely the Ondes Martenot (one of only a few hundred people on Earth that can say that) and the Buchla Modular Synthesizer, amongst other traditional instruments. He also has a lifelong interest in the natural sciences, glaciology and polar science, veterinary medicine, electronics, geology, and astronomy.

Luke Hollister is URM’s Visual Journalist whose primary role involves capturing photos and videos while finding stories to tell throughout the WWU community. He captures various happenings across WWU, ranging from environmental science field work in the North Cascades to student activities such as the yearly fall info fair. He also photographs for Western Today and Window Magazine. 

Luke grew up hiking on trails in the Pacific Northwest. That’s where he first found inspiration as a photographer and where he still spends much of his time.
His photojournalism journey began at his college newspaper, The Daily Evergreen. After graduating Washington State University with a degree in journalism, Luke photographed and wrote about various topics such as wildfires, elections, the lack of affordable housing, protests, backpacking and art. His work has been published across Washington. He’s also pretty enthusiastic about going outside, and spends much of his summers backpacking around the Cascades. His favorite mountain is Index and favorite tree is a larch (obviously). On the rare occasion when Luke isn’t holding an oversized camera, he can also be spotted hammocking at Oyster Dome and creating mellow electronic music – specifically on a semi-modular synth Luke is figuring out how to use.

Since moving to Bellingham, Luke has also been learning the basics of mountaineering, so he can explore, climb and appreciate our local glaciers.
Luke also enjoys: Alpine lakes, shooting 35mm film, all of July, rocks, larches, star trails, adding way too much reverb fx, making pesto, ferns, cool knots, that first sunny/warm day we always get in March where everyone runs outside because it’s been dark for so long, alpenglow and fresh blackberries.