Famous Photographers: Are there really any?

by Stanley LearyPhotography
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Jay Maisel, Bernie Boston, Hugh Morton, and George Tames are four famous photographers. I took this at the Southern Short Course in the 1980s.

Most photographers want to be known for their work, and almost everyone I know wants to have their work judged as significant.

Like many other photographers, I have tried numerous times to get hired by National Geographic Magazine. I wanted to cover important stories and be well-known.

I’ve had the privilege to meet some of the most outstanding photographers of our time. What interested me was that most people in the room had no idea who they were. They knew their images but didn’t recognize them.

Bill Fortney was the emcee of the Southern Short Course on May 10, 1985.

One year later, I met Bill Fortney, who shared his thoughts. He pointed out that other than maybe Ansel Adams, most other “famous photographers” who walked into a local mall would most likely not be recognized. I think he is right.

Fortney went on to talk about how his pursuit of being a “famous photographer” was probably a big mistake. When he was diagnosed with cancer, he came face-to-face with the demons of pride in his life.

Don Rutledge, my mentor and friend, mostly enjoyed working as the fly on the wall. Sure, he liked recognition, but he learned to let the focus be on the story. He knew he had to diminish for the story to be center stage.

My mentor and friend, Don Rutledge, taught me much about being a photographer. I have yet to see anyone masterful storytelling with a camera. I was also impressed that he would talk with anyone and help anyone who asked him to. Rutledge helped just about everyone he met, even those just starting.

The Road to Success

I have spent most of my career figuring out the steps to success. As a result, numerous books help people climb the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, there are no photography career books outlining the steps to success.

What I continue to see over and over is “The Secret.” Most of the books helped me realize that to succeed, I must serve. However, this formula left a bad taste in my mouth. The message was more about how to rise to the top rather than how to live in the moment.

It continued to bother me that the only reason all these authors were writing the book was to tell everyone to do this for a while, and then you will be in charge.

What Don Rutledge Taught Me

Don wanted to tell stories with his camera, but they wanted him to manage communications departments because he was so good everywhere he worked. Don knew he was not gifted to lead but had a talent for visual storytelling.

People around him were mad at him for not stopping to do what he was good at and for leading the division.

I learned from Don that if I were a good ditch digger, there was no reason I couldn’t make a career out of it.

Finally, a book about how to be your best

While in Hawaii, I met Jack Hart. Jack was the art director for many years at CBS for TV shows like The Price Is Right.

After talking for a while, Jack said he had a book I needed to read. Unfortunately, I had to run off to teach a class, and just before I started, Jack came into the room and handed me The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places: The Joy of Serving God in the Ordinary.

It is a rapid read; you can also get it as an eBook.

Here is the first book I picked that outlined what I learned from Don Rutledge.

I believe the key to success is being joyful in life where you are now and not where you might be in the future.

What does this have to do with photography?

I have been working on a book to help students and those starting in this profession become successful photographers. One of the key messages is learning to connect the eighteen inches between the head and the heart.

The connection between why you do what you do and your attitude can make all the difference. Your mood is what makes people want to hire you again and again. 

It took me many years to understand the importance of the question “why” in a story. I was asking Who, What, Where, When, and how, but I was filling the holes with information. I needed to be like a child and ask, “Why is the sky blue?”

Why does the story need to be told? 

Attitude Adjustment

I have come to see that photographers understand they are here to serve others. They operate by helping others communicate effectively using visuals.

When you are a freelancer, a client occasionally insults you- or it feels this way. They may demean your position or some other way you feel offended. You can respond and set them straight; sometimes, this might be necessary, but you must ask yourself if it is worth losing the account.  

As I read Ken Barnes’s book, I came across this quote he had from Gordon MacDonald in his book Rebuilding Your Broken World.

“You know whether or not you’re a servant by how you react when you’re treated like one.”

Do you seek significance? Do you want to be recognized? Is this getting in the way of your joy in living?

Chick-fil-A is one of my best clients. They are my best for many reasons, but one that I have realized over time is that they teach me the value of service.

Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, helps clean up trash at a Habitat for Humanity built in Columbus, GA.

Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, had trained his children that whenever they came to the restaurant, they came in to pick up any trash. Truett also does the same even today. He will bend over at 91 and pick it up if he sees something.

Chick-fil-A trains its people to do any job joyfully; this includes the bathrooms and the dirty dishes.

You may become a “famous photographer” if you serve others. But I think the real question is, will you be happy in the role of a servant only when you discover the joy?

24 thoughts on “Famous Photographers: Are there really any?”

  5. Guy

    Thanks for the thoughts on the subject.

    I wrote this as much for me to remind me as for anyone else. Every day I struggle with this in some way.

    Pride can get the best of you and often it does.

    Perspective is something I need and with the help of my faith I get it a little better than without it.

  6. Guy

    Thanks for the thoughts on the subject.

    I wrote this as much for me to remind me as for anyone else. Every day I struggle with this in some way.

    Pride can get the best of you and often it does.

    Perspective is something I need and with the help of my faith I get it a little better than without it.

  7. Thanks Stanley for this reminder. Early on in my photography I was subject to the temptations to be something in the eyes of man or even history. It was at my first SWPJ conference in '94 when I saw images from Pat Davidson's Colorado story on hunting that brought tears to my eyes. Many other men and women's work glowed on the screen those few days and I was undone. I knew I'd never reach the level they were at. I committed to God that day that even if I knew I could somehow categorically the best photographer who ever lived, the world could do without seeing any image I ever created. I committed that no matter what I did regarding photography, if it wasn't for His glory and purposes that I pursued photography, I didn't want anything to do with it.
    He continued to open doors for me and I ended up overseas shooting as the eyes for His Bride in the US. Feedback is rare and awards even rarer for the average shooter in the business. But, I learned from a friend after one of my first stories in China that God had used specifically the images from my published story to move a man's heart to forsake everything in his life in the US and move to China to make Jesus Christ's name known among an unreached people group. My images… the ones I prayed over at each press of the shutter button… the ones my Father and I crafted together… those images, they were used to move a man's heart to bring eternal freedom to an entire unknown and unreached people in an obscure corner of China.
    I don't need National Geo, Time or other famous publications in portfolio. Sure, it would be fun to shoot for them but I don't need them. I may never have a reader compliment me a cover shot on S.I., but someday, I'll meet men and women who's eternal destinies were impacted by the simple squeezes of a button on my camera.
    I am famous and so are you Stanley! It has all been so worth it.

    Grace,
    Guy

  8. Thanks Stanley for this reminder. Early on in my photography I was subject to the temptations to be something in the eyes of man or even history. It was at my first SWPJ conference in '94 when I saw images from Pat Davidson's Colorado story on hunting that brought tears to my eyes. Many other men and women's work glowed on the screen those few days and I was undone. I knew I'd never reach the level they were at. I committed to God that day that even if I knew I could somehow categorically the best photographer who ever lived, the world could do without seeing any image I ever created. I committed that no matter what I did regarding photography, if it wasn't for His glory and purposes that I pursued photography, I didn't want anything to do with it.
    He continued to open doors for me and I ended up overseas shooting as the eyes for His Bride in the US. Feedback is rare and awards even rarer for the average shooter in the business. But, I learned from a friend after one of my first stories in China that God had used specifically the images from my published story to move a man's heart to forsake everything in his life in the US and move to China to make Jesus Christ's name known among an unreached people group. My images… the ones I prayed over at each press of the shutter button… the ones my Father and I crafted together… those images, they were used to move a man's heart to bring eternal freedom to an entire unknown and unreached people in an obscure corner of China.
    I don't need National Geo, Time or other famous publications in portfolio. Sure, it would be fun to shoot for them but I don't need them. I may never have a reader compliment me a cover shot on S.I., but someday, I'll meet men and women who's eternal destinies were impacted by the simple squeezes of a button on my camera.
    I am famous and so are you Stanley! It has all been so worth it.

    Grace,
    Guy

  11. I was thinking about this topic just recently and really came to the same conclusion but I think you've said it a lot better than I could have. Very nicely said.

  12. I was thinking about this topic just recently and really came to the same conclusion but I think you've said it a lot better than I could have. Very nicely said.

  19. Beautifully put Stanley. I have been extremely blessed by my friendship with you and very grateful for that invitation you extended to me after knowing me only a short while to join you at SWJPC a few years back.

  20. Beautifully put Stanley. I have been extremely blessed by my friendship with you and very grateful for that invitation you extended to me after knowing me only a short while to join you at SWJPC a few years back.

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