Photographer Rick Smolan : The story of a girl

     Rick Smolan is one of the world's most famous photographers and has worked with TIME, Life and National Geographic magazines as well as creating the best selling One Day In The Life photography series. 

     In his recent TED talk , Rick tells the story of a an assignment through South Korea in 1978 where he was investigating the lost generation of illegitimate Amerasian children fathered by American soldiers for TIME magazine.  Afterwards,  he was so unhappy with the published product that he set out to tell a better story through his pictures on his own time. In hopes that he his photographs would actually have an effect on a situation, rather than just documenting one. 

     In the trip back to South Korea he would meet an Amerasian girl and her grandmother who agreed to let him tell her story through his pictures. What would eventually come is as great a story as could ever be written.  As Smolan inspires the audience in telling this first hand account he developes a personal connection with us as if including us in his journey over hurdles of changing a little girl’s life forever. It’s as if it were a script written in Hollywood when he describes the adversity encountered while trying to help her, yet he’s not making this up. He shares the pictures to prove it.  He goes on to tell how he used his professional skills and connections to help him though his mission that became much more than photography.

Photo by Rick Smolan, 1978

  Ricks personal journey is a reminder to me of why I got into the entertainment business in the first place. Not just to take pictures or make films, but to make a difference in the lives of others and impact them in a way that makes a personal connection in turn making the world a better place.

Listen to Rick tell his amazing story here. 

   

A Professional Organization for Photographers

In the recent months since my graduation from film school I have started to network in order to meet new clientele for photography and find others to learn from and help me to build my portfolio. In this time I have also come to find, that there are a lot of people who call themselves “photographers” or even “professional photographers,” most of whom started because they own a DSLR. Many of these people know nothing about the business or little more than the basics of photography. So I wanted to look for ways to separate myself from the casual DSLR owners outside of the obvious quality in photographs. While reading a book by Norman Phillips on the legal aspects of the industry he mentioned a professional resource that helps to separate higher-level photographers from casual hobbyists.

The Professional Photographers of America is an organization that does just this.

          Among their several useful offerings is the knowledge they provide to others on copyright and the rights of the photographer, as well as helping us to educate clients or even helping photographers directly if they run into copyright disputes such as large companies using images out of agreement. 

One of the truly amazing aspects of the PPA is the wide array of educational benefits they offer. As I learned more about the organization I found that they offer online classes, host business oriented workshops on how to make your studio more profitable, and even unique peer to peer classes that are centered around a Monday in October that is referred to as Super Monday. This is where members in local areas can gather to learn from their peers through techniques as well as business related topics, all while networking with people who have the same interests.

          I particularly like that in whatever they provide they truly understand who their customers are. Although I am trying to separate myself from the casual hobbyists who call themselves pros, I am also NOT a big studio with tons of disposable time or income. The PPA caters to people like me. If they list an upcoming workshop that might be too in depth, or aimed more at large studios, they also make sure to have an option for the new and emerging studios. This will definitely help to make aspiring industry professionals like myself more successful long term. 

Overall I have been extremely impressed with all of the information they provide, and with it being all in one location it is exceptionally convenient. I cant wait to delve deeper into the rest of the organization outside of just the educational and networking opportunities.