Mark Philbrick stood in the sunshine of a late-July morning and concentrated on the faces of the students he was about to photograph. The shadows of the surrounding trees danced under his feet as streams of light glinted like a prism off the surface of the Duchesne River.

Then the clouds rolled in, and Philbrick smiled.

"That's nice," he said as the prisms suddenly vanished. "All of a sudden, you can shoot in any direction."

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He took advantage of the cooperative light, snapping shots of the students and their professor wading in the stream, gathering trout for a research project.

Philbrick, Brigham Young University's chief photographer for the last 33 years, has a way of seeing — and capturing — things most people miss. Thousands of BYU's best moments, from academic accomplishments to famed athletic events, have been frozen in Philbrick's lens for fans and faculty to remember.

That is why, as another school year and football season begin again at BYU, 55-year-old Philbrick is doing what he loves most — crashing through a thicket of stinging nettles, standing knee-deep in frigid water, looking for the perfect shot.

His job is to make the university look good.

At first glance, Philbrick — a typically clean-cut BYU employee — seems reserved, even shy. But on assignment, wearing sandals, slightly stained hiking pants and a long-sleeved, collared shirt, he looks as though he could fit in anywhere.

He's a natural athlete, hiking and biking with the best of them while carrying a camera. Were it not for his abilities to dance and ski, he never would have landed a blind date with his future wife, Peggy Hancock, in 1976.

That was the same year Philbrick was hired as BYU's first full-time photographer. He already had taken pictures as a student — first for the yearbook, then the campus newspaper. In September 1976, he traveled as a student to Europe to take pictures of one of the school's performing-arts groups on tour.

While on a bus in the Netherlands, Philbrick's boss sat next to him and told him he'd been officially hired.

Since then, Philbrick figures he's taken more than a million photos for BYU and traveled on research trips and performance tours to more than 20 countries. It's his dream come true.

"You name it, I want to go there," Philbrick says. "Not just to go, but to go take pictures, go to capture. Every (picture) I take has a purpose. Good photographers aren't just snapping pictures all the time. They think, 'Oh, this is nice, but the light isn't right, so I'll come back when the light is right.' That's what makes good photographers. They wait until the light is right."

Philbrick's approach is one reason he's been named photographer of the year six times by the University Photographers' Association of America, though most members of that organization receive the honor only once in their careers.

"Mark is what I would think of as the quintessential university photographer," UPAA president Glenn Carpenter said. "He understands his job, and he does it better than anybody I can think of."

There is no obvious evidence of Philbrick's prestige in his office, which looks like it was meant to be a closet. Boxes of negatives are stacked up the walls, and lens caps are scattered across the floor. A handful of photo essays are on display, but Philbrick's little room is by no means a showcase of his favorite work. Those pictures are hanging elsewhere in BYU's halls and highest offices.

"Recognition isn't all that important to him," says Philbrick's assistant, Jaren Wilkey. "His joy comes from the image and taking a picture, not from people patting him on the back."

Nevertheless, BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson has called Philbrick one of BYU's unsung heroes for helping the school fulfill its mission to "assist individuals in their quest for perfection." Sometimes, it seems like Philbrick has been at the university since its inception.

"Thanks to Mark, we have a wonderful, visual history of the past three decades," Samuelson said. "In fact, when I first arrived at the university, Mark took a picture of the past living presidents of BYU. One of the former presidents commented, 'Remember the photograph of Brigham Young that hangs in your new office? Well, Mark took that photograph.' "

Philbrick's favorite photos are those that other people find meaningful, but then, most of Philbrick's pictures mean something to someone at BYU.

For Carri Jenkins, university spokeswoman, it's the picture she has hanging outside her door. It was taken at twilight, looking down on the heart of the library, and the students are visible in the settling darkness.

"I look at that every night as I leave my office," Jenkins said. "Sometimes, I look down at night as I walk out, and I wonder, what are they studying? Who has exams tomorrow, and are they ready? That's one of my favorites."

Associate International Vice President Erland Peterson gives a photo album of Philbrick's pictures to each dignitary who visits. Peterson has a wall full of pictures taken of him with international leaders, including Margaret Thatcher, but his favorite is a picture taken of himself and Gordon B. Hinckley, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who died in 2008.

In the photo, Peterson is talking to President Hinckley at a reception shortly before commencement, and Hinckley is reaching out to touch Peterson's hand.

"I didn't even realize Mark was there, and he captured such a tender moment so beautifully," Peterson said. "Those pictures make the memory live."

Every year, Philbrick starts the football season the same way — with a photo-shoot blitz of the team's coaches and athletes. He has it down like clockwork, from the quiet, calculated setup of lights and cameras on the practice field to controlling the chaos of noisy football players who don't want to stand in the hot sun to have their picture taken.

These rapid-fire portraits may not be pretty, but they will be remembered.

"Out of all of the pictures we take, these are the ones that get requested most," Philbrick said as he hurried from one shot to the next in the boiling heat of an August afternoon.

As this year marks the 25th anniversary of BYU's famed victory at the '84 Holiday Bowl, many fans will be looking to Philbrick's pictures to relive their memories.

"He creates a historical record through pictures," said Duff Tittle, associate athletic director for communications. "In many ways, the younger generation of Cougar fans of today has probably never seen many of those great plays in video, but everybody has seen Mark's picture from that (Holiday) bowl. In a way, he's the memory that a lot of people would have of that game. They might think of a particular play, but the image that would pop into their mind would be his picture."

Retired coach LaVell Edwards keeps Philbrick's photos in a file for when he is asked to speak about his time at BYU.

"The guy has been an institution around there," Edwards said. "He is so good at what he does, and he just has a great feel for it. He's just first-notch all the way around."

Back in his office, Philbrick struggles to explain why he can't pick his favorite picture, while his wife, Peggy Philbrick, sits nearby, insisting all of his work could hang on her walls.

"If it's shot, it's shot," he says with some frustration. "Everything blends together for me. I have a hard time separating things … because everything seems like I just did it. Steve Young was just at BYU for me. So was that last year or the year before? It doesn't matter. It's been shot, and we're moving on to the next assignment."

Peggy Philbrick, who married Mark in 1977, has accompanied her husband on some of his exotic assignments, but more often, she packs his bags and stays behind. She knows that he will be gone most Saturday nights during football season, and planning a trip to the family's time-share can be close to impossible.

Some things, like being left home while her husband travels the world, have been hard. But she says it has been worth it — her husband's success and adventures are as much her own as his.

"For us as a family, we've been able to see the world through Mark's eyes," she says, "which has been really a great blessing and opportunity for the whole family, for us to see his images. His eye opens the world."

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There have been so many pictures over the years that remembering just one or two makes her pause and think hard, too.

"Maybe I'll have to try and figure out what's my favorite picture," she resolutely tells her husband.

"I've been trying to do that for years," Philbrick says back to her. "I can't do that. It's always the next one I'm going to take. My favorite picture will be the one I take tomorrow."

e-mail: achoate@desnews.com

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