Photographer
Personal Connection
- Do you enjoy taking photos?
- Do you tend to be creative?
- Do you work well with others?
- Do you like traveling?
- Do you want a career that blends art with technology?
Other Connections
STEM Connection
DSLR cameras help students getting into the field:
Smartphones make everyone an amateur photographer:
Virtual photography creates new possibilities:
Drones take photography to new heights:
Journeys to Becoming a Photographer
Joe McNally is an established photographer, but getting started in the field was quite a challenge. Growing up, Joe never expected to become a photographer. In fact, he went to college to become a writer. Joe ended up discovering his passion for photography when he was required to take a class in it as part of his college curriculum. Since he found photography late into his college education, Joe finished up his undergraduate degree in journalism and stayed for a graduate degree in photojournalism at the Newhouse School of Journalism. After graduating, Joe headed to the ‘Big City,’ but he still had some significant challenges to overcome.
Once in New York, Joe struggled to find a job as a photographer. He ended up getting a full-time job as a copy boy at the New York Daily News, hoping to work his way up to becoming a photographer. That didn’t work out either, and he was let go as part of a staff reduction after three years with the company. It may seem like Joe’s career was a failure at this point. Still, he had spent those years as a copy boy building valuable relationships with various news organizations, which enabled him to do freelance photography for a living.
Since then, he has worked for several recognized publishers like National Geographic, New York Times, and Asbury Park Press. Joe is also well known for his work on the Faces of Ground Zero, which put together 246 photographs of the heroes who helped rescue people from the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Joe’s career shows that even if you have a rough start, you can still have a successful career if you work hard.
Read more about Joe’s story here:
Read about a photographer’s journey to share his experiences:
Svetlin Yosifov is a renowned photographer now, but getting there was no easy feat. Growing up in Bulgaria, Svetlin got to observe the beauty of nature up close. He would enjoy breathtaking sunsets over the Black Sea, with waves crashing an otherwise silent shore. Svetlin still remembers his first shot from 2004 at the Marble Sea and has it hanging in his home. All of this inspired Svetlin to become a photographer, but college was out of reach.
Unable to afford a college education, Svetlin had to learn everything on his own. And given the time he grew up in, the vast internet resources available to students today were quite limited back then. Still, he managed to learn the trade and succeed, traveling the world to share his experiences through photography. Some of his most well-known work is photographs of the Mursi Tribe, which involved him living with them for a week. Through a translator, he was able to communicate with these people, understand the culture, and share in their traditions.
Since Svetlin travels alone, he relies on photography to share these experiences with the world, carefully editing images to express what he felt at the moment. Svetlin’s career is an excellent example of how students can get started and succeed in photography without a college degree. Still, he notes in an interview that students serious about photography should go to college if they can to learn the basics.