On the Market Media Ray Pfortner
Ray Pfortner
RAY PFORTNER has worked in photography for over 20 years – as a stock agent, an editor, a consultant, a photographer, and an educator. He teaches and consults on the business of art and on photography across the US. Ray received Bellevue Community College’s 2008 Margin of Excellence Award. He served as Director of Education for Seattle’s Photographic Center Northwest for the 2007-8 academic year, where he taught the business of photography class. He also received the North American Nature Photography Association’s 2006 Recognition Award for making a difference with his photography, its 2003 Russ Kinne Grant for sharing his expertise, and its 2003 Fellow Award for career contributions in nature photography. Ray’s photography is widely published, and used to support habitat and environmental protection. His primary interest is in coaching new talent and in having art, especially photography seen and sold. Ray holds a Masters degree from Duke University.
Website URL: E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
No Nature Photographer is an Island Anymore Unpublished
Like so many things in life, photography runs in cycles based on reaction and a desire for change, even if that means reinventing the wheel at times. Sometimes these changes lack the proper historical perspective of all that has gone before. Other times, the changes sought harken back to seemingly safer, more predictable times.
In the post-Civil War years, American photographers began turning their attention from the war to the West. They brought home images of the incredible, endless landscapes of the new frontier to an East hungry for expansion. They built an enthusiasm for these places that would help lead to the founding of the national park system, starting with Yellowstone National Park in 1872.
Today, more than a century later, nature photographers are still bringing home images...
