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BOZEMAN - - The cover shot on the April 15 edition of Newsweek magazine was a full-color, close-up portrait of a grim-faced Ted Kaczynski, the prime suspect in the Unabomber case. The photo is also the handiwork of former 4-H'er and photography champ Derek Pruitt of Gallatin County, Montana.
Derek, formerly a member of the Shining Mountaineers 4-H Club, is currently a graduate student in journalism at the University of Montana. He was sitting in his advisor's office April 3 when a call came in from the New York Times. The paper was looking for someone to head to Lincoln, Mont. and photograph the FBI's arrest of a Unabomber suspect. Derek grabbed his camera and hit the road to Lincoln with a fellow photographer.
The pair, unable to gain close access to the suspect's cabin, had a hunch when a single Bronco left the area. They followed the vehicle all the way to Helena, where it stopped at the Arcade building. Outside the FBI office on the third floor, Derek snapped the now-famous photo as Ted Kaczynski exited -- of all places -- the bathroom.
The Newsweek photo is just one of many in Derek's list of photography successes. Terry Wolfe, state 4-H youth development specialist, likes to tell of a day many years ago when 9-year-old Derek came into his office.
"He could barely see above the desk," says Terry. "And he said, 'I want to be a national photography winner.'" Together they made a list of goals. Terry asked Derek to post the list in a place where he would read it every day. Derek chose the refrigerator.
"I just decided thatís what I wanted to do," says Derek. "I read through all the photography manuals available. I did photo projects until I ran out of them." Derek also shot photos of 4-H fashion shows and livestock sales, as well as high school portraits.
Derek went on to become a state 4-H photography champion in Montana and was selected as a national winner at the National 4-H Congress in Chicago. Derek also won a scholarship from Eastman Kodak, and was the recipient of the Gertrude Warren scholarship. Derek had learned so much about photography that he taught workshops for other 4-H youth and even leaders.
After high school, Derek majored in still photography at Montana State University-Bozeman, where he said it was difficult to find courses that were challenging enough.
"It became hard to take courses -- even in higher education
-- because I'd already learned so much in 4-H," he says.
From the 4-H Clover Project Selection Guide
