If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then a prize or two wouldn’t do their quality any justice. Although I doubt that sentiment makes Dan Bracaglia think any less of all the critical praise and awards his photography has earned him throughout the years. Whether it’s with the Targum, his photoblogs, or elsewhere, Dan’s web and print presence makes an indelible impression: this guy is going places. And in this Q and A, JVP’s former photography editor looks back on where he’s going, where he’s at, and the path he’s been on along the way.
What brought you to Rutgers?
What brought me to Rutgers? Well I guess I was technically brought to Rutgers by my Mom’s minivan on a rainy August day back in 2006.
For real though: I went to Rutgers because it was the first school I applied to and the first school I got accepted to. After that I said to myself, “Fuck it, I don’t want to be bothered filling out any more of these bullshit applications that ask me to sum up my aspirations and life”, I mean fuck I was eighteen years old, I don’t have a clue what I am doing with my life now, how the fuck did they expect me at eighteen to know that shit. Not to mention the fact that I put in absolutely no effort (ok maybe a little effort) in high school. Well, I mean, I got by with straight B’s, but in high school, that’s no effort, regardless of whether it’s an AP class or not. So, Rutgers was pretty much my best option; and I sure as hell wasn’t going Ivy League (my parents told me my choices were a state school or Ivy League).
Also it should be noted that my mother attended Rutgers and dragged me to the college tour. All I remember from it was that Cheese Whiz had been invented at Rutgers. That was enough for me; I was sold.
How’d you decide on your major(s)?
I knew I was going to major in journalism before I applied to Rutgers. I always loved story telling, especially through visuals. It was a no brainer. Funny story: I almost didn’t make it into the journalism school because I got a C in the very first journalism intro class that I took, which was also a prerequisite to applying to the school. You needed a B in the class to apply. I had to take a Library Studies course instead. I wrote some b/s paper about how the Segway was a complete failure (not sure now how that was related to the study of libraries). However, I never got anything lower than a B+ after that class in the journalism major.
When and how did you develop and interest in photography/politics/journalism? How did you explore these interests growing up?
Photography is my passion. I am lucky that I figured out what makes me happy at an early age. Unfortunately what makes me happy isn’t exactly the most lucrative thing in the world. As for politics, both my parents are lawyers and I was raised to, naturally, be political. I minored in political science at Rutgers and actually only needed to take one more class to make it a double major, but refused to because it was some garbage intro class. My parents think that was a bad decision; I think, who the fuck cares what you majored in? As of recently I have temporarily written all things political out of my life, including voting.
As for photography, I started a badass monthly “Zine” in high school called Dan’s Zine (yeah I was pretty vein). To this day I am still trying to relive the glory of my high school days. All I did every day after school was go out skateboarding with my friends, shoot photos, write obnoxious stories, and interview bands. The zine lasted three years and we published 35 issues. I had a sandwich named after me at my local town deli. Like I said: the glory days.
What sort of aspirations did you have growing up and which of these, if any, are you putting the most effort into making a reality?
Growing up I wanted to be a rock and roll star. I wanted all the girls to throw their panties at me when I walked down the street. I wanted all the guys to be like, “I wish I was him”. This is still my dream. I want to be Bob Dylan. He is a god to me. He is the most unexpected, shot in the dark, shit on your head dude ever. I would love to shit on everyone’s head.
For real though, my dream is to own my own highly successful, highly controversial, super cool company, which I have complete creative control over. I do well when I work for me.
What am I doing to accomplish this? Gaining experience and knowledge and waiting. I am like an assassin waiting on top of a building patiently until the moment is right to go in for the kill. That was fucking corny and untrue actually. I am more like a dude trying to live his dream and make the right connections and gain the right knowledge first.
I just want to have complete control over my own destiny and be able to do positive things in my own way without anyone telling me what to do.
My real dream growing up was always to win a Pulitzer Prize for my photography. If I could do anything with my time, I would photograph things that matter and change public opinion for the better through my images. I feel I was born a slightly better than average photographer. Photography was the first thing I realized I was good at (there were probably about 500 things I learned I wasn’t good at before discovering photography). It would be a shame to not use my talents for positivity. I truly believe in the power of humanity.
How did you change over the course of your time at Rutgers?
I changed a lot at Rutgers, although many of those changes are not ones I want to publish on the Internet, like the copious amounts of drugs I ingested—kidding!
My experience at Rutgers did exactly what a college education should do: It expanded my mind, taught me a lot about mysely– my strengths and weaknesses, the world around me, and the people around me. I am very grateful for my education.
What have you been up to since leaving RU?
Since leaving RU I got into grad school, withdrew from grad school and took a job as the Associate Online Editor at Popular Photography Magazine. I am currently working on nearly a dozen personal creative projects. I have a live stop action short film in the works that I am real excited about.
How’d you become involved in the JVP?
Mike Stu got me in JVP way at the beginning when it was still a concept. Despite my long-term affiliation, I have let JVP down far more times than the amount of times I did worthwhile things for it. Although the photos that appeared with my Chris Dagget piece did win a New Jersey Press Association General News Photography Award (although they won for the identical images printed in the Targum).
In closing, follow your dreams. You can do anything you want, as long as you’re not a total bum.
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