Eric T. Kunsman (b. 1975) was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While in high school, he was heavily influenced by the death of the steel industry and its place in American history. Exposure to the work of Walker Evans during this time hooked Eric into photography. Eric had the privilege of studying under Lou Draper, who became Eric's most formative mentor. He credits Lou with influencing his approach as an educator, photographer, and contributing human being. Eric holds his MFA in book arts/printmaking from University of the Arts in Philadelphia and holds an MS in electronic publishing/graphic arts media, a BS in biomedical photography, and a BFA in fine art photography, all from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.

He is a photographer and book artist now based out of Rochester. Eric works at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as an assistant professor in the Visual Communications Studies Department at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and is an adjunct professor for RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. In addition to lectures, he provides workshops on topics including his artistic practice, digital printing, and digital workflow processes. He provided industry seminars for the highly regarded Printing Applications Lab at RIT. His photographs and books are exhibited internationally and are in several collections. He currently owns Booksmart Studio, which is a fine-art digital printing studio specializing in numerous techniques and services for photographers and book artists on a collaborative basis. E. Eric is as drawn to the landscapes and neglected towns of the American Southwest as he is to the tensions of struggling rustbelt cities in the US Northeast.

Eric is attracted to objects left behind, especially those that hint at a unique human narrative, a story waiting to be told. Eric's current work explores one of those relics: working payphones hidden in plain sight throughout the neighborhood near his studio in Rochester, New York. Associates suggested they signified a high-crime area. This project has shown Eric something very different. To learn more about Eric, visit www.erickunsman.com.