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12 UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop (left) presents the UCSF Medal to Phil Borges (D’69). feature > > > COMMUNITY In Focus School of Dentistry Graduate Phil Borges Wins UCSF Medal Phil Borges graduated from the UCSF School of Dentistry as a Regents Scholar in 1969 with a specialization in Orthodontics. He practiced dentistry in Northern California for 18 years before deciding, in 1989, to leave his lucrative practice and become a professional photographer. He and his family moved to Seattle, where he still lives with his wife and 18-year-old son, who will attend college this fall and aspires to a career in digital media studies. In a 15-year career as a photographer, Borges has published five books documenting indigenous and tribal people worldwide, contributed to television documentaries for the Discovery Channel and National Geographic, and strives to promote and preserve the cultural diversity of the many different peoples and tribal groups he portrays. > > >
In 1996, he published the award-winning book Tibetan Portrait: the Power of Compassion, that included a photograph of, and text by, the Dalai Lama (pictured below). In 1998 he published Enduring Spirit for Amnesty International in observance of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2000, he published The Gift, a book that documents the work of Interplast, a non-profit organization that partners with physicians to provide free reconstructive surgery to needy children and adults throughout the third world. By his own estimation, Borges has traveled to more than 35 countries. He is currently working on a book on alternative medicines and shamanism photographed during visits to Mongolia, the Philippines and the Amazon basin. In 2000, he founded a non-profit organization, BRIDGES to Understanding (see “Building Bridges,” page 17), to which he currently devotes a great deal of time, energy and personal funds. In April 2004, Borges was presented with the UCSF Medal, the University’s highest honor, by Chancellor J. Michael Bishop at the annual Founders Day banquet. This honor is bestowed on individuals who have made outstanding personal contributions to the health sciences and whose efforts mirror the goals and values of the University. We caught up with Borges recently by phone from Seattle, on a rare respite between trips. SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY: How long have you had an interest in photography? PHIL BORGES: I fell in love with photography when I was in dental school at UCSF from 1965-69. I lived in the Haight-Ashbury district while going to school. I had a work-study job for a UCSF sociologist, and they asked me to go down to Haight Street and survey people as to why they were sharing needles. Eventually, I started taking pictures of my interview subjects because they were so wild looking. It was a very unusual and interesting time to be there, so there were plenty of things to photograph around the city. I would do the interviews and photography, then take the N-Judah to a Parks and Recreation department darkroom to develop the pictures. What was your first camera? A Minolta SRT-101. Were there components to your training as an orthodontist that prepared you for a successful career in photography? The type of photography I do is very people oriented; I don’t just do landscapes. What you do as a dentist is get people to feel comfortable in an awkward situation. As an orthodontist, you have to get kids to do terrible things like wear headgear or put rubber bands in their mouths to get the job done. Winning people over and establishing rapport quickly is very useful when going into a tribe. 13
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