World Photography Day 2016

Happy World Photography Day 2016! The world's first known photograph was created 177 years ago today. The process has changed considerably since that time, even since I began shooting twenty years ago. I resisted the digital revolution and continued to shoot film until 2007, when I finally broke down and got my first digital SLR. As an artist, I love the possibilities that newer technology provides, making it possible to produce images that simply could not have been captured using film. At the same time, you might say it has been a double-edged sword as the stock photo market has been saturated with low-priced, royalty free images and in many cases businesses and publications have come to expect photos for no cost at all. That being said, change is inevitable and the only way to survive is to adapt. Social media provides a platform to do just that.

This is one of my first and most memorable photographs - aurora borealis and the Big Dipper over North America’s tallest mountain, Denali, taken on Kodak slide film in 1998. It is still among my best selling images to date and has landed in several publications, including Alaska Magazine and was also used by the US Postal Service on a commemorative stamp sheet. I’m excited to see what the next twenty years will bring in the way of photographic technology and business pursuits; the possibilities are endless.

Colin