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NANPA 2013 Board of Directors CandidateVoting notifications will be sent via e-mail. Check your mailbox for a link to the voting page. You may also get to the voting page by logging in to the Members' Area and clicking the "2013 Board of Directors Voting" link.
1) Give us a brief overview of your job, photographic, educational, volunteer, organizational board/committee skills, etc. I started the Irish Photographic Workshops in 1976. Ten years latter I joined with Voyagers International and then, ten years latter, the company became Strabo Tours International. My photographic education started with a correspondence with Ansel Adams in the 1960’s. I then started working with Minor White at MIT in 1967-1974. I taught photography at Clark University in Worcester, MA for thirty years before becoming totally independent as a fine art photographer and leader of photo tours around the world. I have served on a few cultural arts boards in the Worcester area. Bancroft School for several years and The JCC in Worcester for over 15 years. I have also been a hospice volunteer for a few years in Worcester, MA.2) How long have you been an active member of NANPA? It has to be ten years or more. My first summit was at the Hotel Rio in Las Vegas. 3) What Summits/Forums have you attended? I’ve only missed last year since I became a member. Last year I was teaching out of the country at the time of the summit. 4) Have you served as a NANPA volunteer or worked on a committee? I did once. It was a few years ago with Kathy Adams Clark. At the time, my travel schedule was extremely intense and I had to drop out. We had extremely long conference calls and not always at convenient times for me. 5) What particular expertise and/or qualities would you bring to the NANPA Board? If you google my name you will see that I’m more of a landscape photographer. I come from a large format, black and white background. Although I am now 100% digital, my philosophy hasn’t changed. Landscape photographers try to photograph the eternal moment, not an instant in time. I know many photographers who have left NANPA because they aren’t primarily photographers of critters/animals/bugs, etc. My goal would be to bring the landscape photographers into NANPA. 6) NANPA is a young organization experiencing amazing growth. To help bring about a successful passage into maturity, every member of the Board is required to put in considerable time and effort. Will you be able to participate fully and actively? If you are self-employed, can you afford to take time away from your business? If you are an employee, or in some other way connected to an organization, will your job responsibilities allow you the freedom to attend to NANPA business? I have to say YES and NO. I can’t take part in lengthly conference calls. I can get to most anything via e-mail, at my own pace. I lead about ten international photo tours a year. I speak at numerous photo institutions. Recently I did a road show for NANPA, the MASS AUDUBON, and I have several coming up in the months ahead. I recently had an exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum, from December to July (it was held over) and gave over 20 separate talks. I also have a very active exhibition schedule in both Ireland and the USA. I would like the opportunity to be a board member, but I’d have to work at when I can. As I mentioned in question #5, I feel that NANPA has lots of room for growth with the kind of photography I represent. I feel my greatest contribution would be in increasing membership. My exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum increased their membership dramatically. I know I can do the same for NANPA. 7) How would you use your abilities to further the NANPA mission: "to provide education, foster professionalism and ethical conduct, gather and disseminate information, and develop standards for all persons interested in the field of nature photography. NANPA further seeks to promote nature photography as an art form and a medium of communication for the sciences, nature appreciation, and environmental protection." Do not address the entire mission, but only those aspects that align with your own know-how, interests, and goals. I covered a lot of this in the previous question (#6). What I’d like to add is that first and foremost I think of myself as an educator. I not only teach photography, but the creative process. I totally agree with the NANPA mission statement. My life is providing education and to promote photography as an art form. I have published five books of my photographs that I hope educate and inspire. 8) How do you envision NANPA's role in the future of nature photography? How would you further that role? I’ve been a member of NANPA for many years because I deeply believe in what NANPA does: to promote photography as an art, and to help the next generation of photographers (two very important projects close to my heart). I have often volunteered to speak in grade schools. I’ve participated in inner city projects with young children coming to visit the Worcester Art Museum. I relate to ALL ages, including people in nursing homes. I don’t know if other NANPA members do this or are interested but I would like to bring it to members attention of what each one of us could do to not only promote photography, but to make our world just a little bit better. 9) Why do you want to serve on the NANPA Board of Directors? If elected, what would you personally like to accomplish during your term on the NANPA Board? I look at being a board member as an opportunity to connect with all the NANPA members and to give them my ideas on how we all can help out. I also look at being a board member as an opportunity to bring more people to NANPA. With increased membership, there is the opportunity for making a bigger impact, creating more good in the world. Creating art is an affirmation. The world would be a much better place if more people looked for the beauty in themselves, and then saw that reflection in nature. |
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