University of New Mexico Student Gets Serious About His Military Future

Jeff Han, 20, is in preparation for Officer Candidacy School to become a US Marine Corp Officer.

In this image, Jeff Han prepares his Marine Corp ROTC dress for the next morning of class and meetings. He wears this specific uniform once a week. Han wakes up at 5:00AM for his ROTC mornings. Because of this, Han irons, decorates, and hangs his uniform the night before. He is very particular about his nametag and other decorations being straight and in order, sometimes taking him up to five full minutes of just making sure everything is straight. Han takes his work as an ROTC member and aspiring Marine Corp Officer very seriously.

This photo was originally taken around 11:00 PM. Han was already very tired from workouts that day, so he kept the lighting in his bedroom to a minimum. I wanted to keep that same intimacy that was there originally, so I adjusted the tones and levels a bit to create more shadows and dim lighting. Usually, when people see military members, even ROTC members, they always see them either in civilian clothes or uniform. You rarely see images of them preparing their uniform to be the decorated one we’re used to seeing so this gives you a glimpse into the preparation it takes. 

Young Student Wants Nothing More than to Play Piano for Fun.

Community musicians are in every town playing for us, even when we don’t notice them. They can be a struggling local artist trying to make it big, or they can just be someone who plays for the pure joy of playing, with no intention of being noticed or catching a big break. That is what Alex Deeds enjoys doing the most. Deeds is a 22 year old college student who has played piano for fifteen years. Then, while he was in high school, he played the piano at a local Starbucks twice a week for two years.

            Like any other child who begins learning an instrument, Deeds didn’t like it very much. “I was forced to play for 30 minutes a day and had hour long lessons once a week. I hated it,” said Deeds.

            Over time, of course, he realized how good he was and that he really did have a passion for this. He explains that he began liking it around 9 years old, when he realized he was talented. “It’s calming for me and it gives me a way to express myself. When I’m waiting on my family to go somewhere, I play the piano or when I’m bored and don’t feel like doing homework, I play the piano.”            

            His sophomore year of high school, Deeds had a friend, Phillip Jones*, who worked at a local Starbucks. They were interested in hiring a pianist or guitar player to play for patrons and Deeds offered. He said he wasn’t a local artist or anything, but rather he just enjoyed playing. Jones then signed him up.

            “I was called back to play again and eventually it turned into a regular thing. I would see patrons that would return and say hi to me and eventually, people were going just to sit there and listen. It wasn’t anything big deal, it was just a ton of fun,” said Deeds.

            “In high school, we knew Alex was a talented piano player but we were all in the music program so it wasn’t something that really stuck out to me about him, until he offered to play at Starbucks. Then I saw that he would really get into the music and was extremely passionate about just playing for fun, nothing more,” says Jones.

            At the moment, Deeds is finishing up his senior year at the University of New Mexico, earning a degree in Media Arts, with a concentration in film. He hopes to get a career as a film director. However, the thought of scoring music for film has definitely crossed his mind. “Aside from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and pretty much all 50s-60s music, I love movie soundtracks. A couple favorites are Yann Tierson, who’s a film composer. He composed for the film Amelie. Another one is Michael Nyman, who did the soundtrack for The Piano.” Deeds says that he would consider a career in movie scoring, however only for small independent films. He doesn’t believe he would be able to carry a big blockbuster movie soundtrack, which many of his friends and family would disagree with. “I’ve only tried composing music for a film once and I was ten years old making my own movie in my house. It was cute,” says Deeds.

            Deeds views playing the piano as a hobby and a passion at the same time. Although he may not pursue a career in it, he is perfectly content playing for anyone that wants to hear him and just “having fun with it.”

Alex Deeds playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.