Speeding across campus in his “super decked-out” black and gold golf cart, university and medical center photographer Neil Brake was remembered as an upbeat presence always waving at friends while on the prowl for photographs at Vanderbilt.

Brake, 47, died Nov. 4 at his home outside of Nashville. At a memorial service Dec. 3 in Benton Chapel, colleagues and family members recalled his long and courageous struggle against severe injuries suffered during a childhood motorcycle crash.

“We all knew he lived with pain,” said Judy Orr, assistant vice chancellor, creative services. “But it was easy to forget he was suffering because he almost never complained.”

Athletes, scientists, doctors, administrators, students, faculty and many staff members at Vanderbilt were captured for posterity by Brake, a gentle and indefatigable presence who was a master at putting his subjects at ease. In the past year he worked as senior photographer for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, but during the bulk of his Vanderbilt career he worked for Vanderbilt University Creative Services, serving as photographer for the Vanderbilt Register, the science Web site Exploration and many other university publications, as well as covering the full spectrum of events that happen at a major university. He was particularly well-known for his work at athletics events.

Orr, who worked with Brake for about seven years, was one of several colleagues who spoke at the service. Brake’s daughter Brandi Brake read a short poem:

“Making people smile was his profession,” she said. “He loved to jet ski and always told me he loved me.”

The funeral was held Nov. 7 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Family members including Brake’s parents attended the Vanderbilt service, where a selection of his best work was projected.

“He just ruled the campus on his golf cart,” said Heather Newman, former editor of Vanderbilt Nurse magazine. “He would toot his horn and wave to people as he drove by.”

When Brake was introduced as the new photographer for the medical center at his first staff meeting there, he was asked to say a few words about himself. His stories about his life ended up dominating most of the meeting, said Wayne Wood, assistant director, Vanderbilt Medical Center News and Public Affairs.

“That was OK,” Wood said. “His life was more interesting than whatever was on the agenda that day.”

Wood recalled an assignment he shared with Brake where the photographer delighted in taking photos of a doctor’s collection of old radios. He took shots in groups, then individual radios, changed the lighting and then lay down on the floor for a different angle.

“He would have hired a helicopter and taken aerial shots if we had let him,” Wood said. “That day he was the perfect image of a man happy in his work. That was Neil at his best, and that’s how I want to remember him.”

Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu