Longevity
REFLECTIONS ON A CAREER We asked six photographers who’ve built legacies in their fields how the industry has changed since they set up shop, and what they’ve done over the decades to f lourish amid the ebbs and f lows. Compiled by Libby Peterson and Jacqueline Tobin
CL IF F M AU T N ER Sometime in the spring of 1982, I was a college student scraping by with no spending money in my pocket. I answered a want ad (in one of those old-fashioned classified sections of something called a newspaper) seeking a photographer for an “award-winning weekly newspaper.” After a two-minute interview, I had my first job as a professional photographer. I had zero experience, but they were truly desperate. Thirty-seven years later, I’m still at it. I’d imagine that most photographers remember their first assignment. In 1985, my editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bryan Grigsby, decided he’d make my first one something to laugh about: He sent this raw, inexperienced, Jewish photojournalist to a meeting of the German American Police Association. Yes, there was a level of discomfort. My second assignment was equally uneasy: coverage of the local La Leche league meeting. It was a room full of nursing moms, and I was the only man there. I had the privilege of learning from some of the very best photojournalists in the world—Larry Price, Sarah Leen, John Paul Filo, April Saul, Tom Gralish and Ron Cortes were among those who earned the Pulitzer Prize. Heck, Larry earned two of them! Aside from
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those legends, I was able to watch, listen and learn from a staff of professionals that were incredibly gifted storytellers. While shooting 6,000 assignments with the Inquirer, I had many opportunities to see people, places and things that most people never had the privilege to see. Hospitals, corporations, universities, public relation firms, ad agencies and a plethora of other clients allowed my business to become incredibly diverse. I was truly making a decent living as a photographer, working my ass off shooting for an eclectic array of clients, and I still had my contract to shoot all week for the Inquirer. Until I didn’t. No article on longevity could be complete without talking about setbacks. In 1998, after about 15 years with the newspaper, I received
a phone call from the director of photography, Clem Murray, explaining that I was one of several photographers that were being laid off due to blah blah blah. All I heard was that I was fired. I had infant twin daughters, so it was now time to sink or swim. I’d realized that I’d gotten a little too comfortable with the career I had. Freelance photography, without a truly steady client to rely upon, was a scary place to be. So, I entered the wonderful world of wedding photography. I shot my first wedding as a second shooter for a Philadelphia studio. After my second wedding, I knew I could do this myself but I had no work to show. None. So, I showed my first clients some of the photoj work I was proud of: sports work, a magazine feature on a medi-
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