Denis Jiménez
Denis J. Jiménez is a native of Valencia, Venezuela’s third largest city. According to his parents, Denis’ first experience with a camera was when, as a three-year old kid, he opened the back of a Pentax film camera, ruining those photos taking during a vacation to the Venezuelan Andes. Denis migrated with his family to the US in the summer of 2001, living in Miami, Florida for two years and finally settling in Greenwood, Indiana in the winter of 2004. After graduating with honors from Perry Meridian High School, Denis started attending Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis for a degree in journalism. He also worked for a degree in history, with a specialization in US-Latin American relations.
At the IU School of Journalism, Denis became the first IU student to be hired as an intern by ESPN, a highly coveted internship where less than one percent of applicants are chosen. After ESPN, Denis also became the first IU student to intern for a year at the NCAA’s Digital Communications department. There he covered various sporting events such as the 2011 Final Four in Indianapolis, the 117th Monon Bell Classic, and several Big Ten Conference events. After finishing his internship at the NCAA, he was hired as a summer photo intern by Hoy – Chicago’s largest Spanish-language newspaper.
At IUPUI, Denis also was the undergraduate assistant to Executive Associate Dean James W. Brown for Brown’s J210 Visual Communication course. In addition to constantly reminding Brown to check his shirt pockets for lost objects, Denis helped develop the syllabus and was an invaluable resource to the students in the class. He also was heavily involved in the Journalism Student Association and the SPJ-IUPUI chapter.
Denis has also worked for the Boy Scouts of America, ESPN/ABC remote crew for racing, WIIH Univision Indiana, and several local Indiana newspapers.
He hopes to finish his journalism degree by May 2013. After which, he plans on pursuing his dream of becoming a chess Grandmaster…
While continuing to shoot, of course.