I grew up drawing, designing, and constructing three-dimensional (3D) things with my father, industrial designer and artist, Harry Loucks. These experiences taught me to think critically and solve problems at an early age.
My family moved from Philadelphia to Hot Springs, Arkansas when I was 6 years old. The culture shock resulting from city to country living had an impact on me for sure. I was shy and very anxious. I had an undiagnosed learning disability; I didn’t fit in at all. Building small scale things with Lego, then larger, more ambitious assemblies in my father’s shop lessened my anxiety, allowed me to enter another world; a world under my control, a timeless space of flow…of course I didn’t articulate it like that back then, I just considered it my happy place.
I began exploring photography in high school and took an intern job at Peerless photographic studios, Little Rock, AR. Here I learned to shoot catalogue, product photography and most importantly black and white darkroom processing. Upon graduation, I studied photography at the Art Institute of Houston, then worked as an assistant to acclaimed architectural photographer Tim Hursley. For two years Hursley and I crisscrossed the country, obsessively documenting great modern buildings as well as many Nevada brothels.
The lure of cheap warehouse space and an endless supply of industrial surplus lured me back to Houston in the 1990s. There I continued my freelance photography. I built out my first warehouse studio in 1992. I did all the construction work myself. This in turn, led to construction and fabricating jobs, which in turn led to prop making and set construction for film and television.
From 1995 to the present, I have worked on more than a dozen feature films, including Rushmore, Spy Kids and Idiocracy as well as multiple commercials and music videos.
In 1999 I founded BOXLAB, an industrial design studio and shop. I primarily fabricated props, prototypes and camera-related constructs for film and television.
In the fall of 2000, I began running the Model Shop at Rice University’s School of Architecture (RSA). I served as RSA’s shop manager from 2000-2010, managing all aspects of the Model Shop. At RSA, I was given the amazing opportunity to explore new technologies for design and fabrication, including laser cutting, 3D printing, and computer numerically controlled (CNC) routing. Having run analog tools most of my life, I was quick to adopt the use of the new CNC tools for problem solving in the built world. I created manuals for laser cutter, 3D printer and CNC router. I wrote curriculum and taught Introduction to Digital Fabrication as well as Independent Studies utilizing the new digital tools.
In the summer of 2010, I resigned from Rice’s School of Architecture and relocated to Austin, to work with long-time collaborators Paul Bernhard, Jeff Poss, and Troy Engel with their start-up, Paul Bernhard Exhibit Design and Consulting (PBE). I wore numerous hats on countless projects over the next six years contracting with PBE, working as Exhibit Designer/Drafter and Fabricator, Project Manager and Install Supervisor, CNC programmer and Archival Photographer/Videographer.
In the summer of 2019, I returned to Little Rock, Arkansas to be closer to my family. I have since established a studio to continue my 3D investigations and various photographic projects.
My passion for photography is fueled by connection; my best work is “our” best work. I am grateful to have worked with so many wonderful clients over the years. I am always excited to produce meaningful content. Let me help you tell your story. If you have a project that needs documenting, or just want to meet for a coffee to tell stories - contact me. -Chad
