Photographer Profiles

“My dad won a Nikon FM at a company-sponsored event when I was 12, and, the moment he handed the camera over to me, it was love at first sight,” Nels Akerlund recalls. Six months later, he’d built a darkroom in his basement and that love affair with photography has not abated. It carried him through the Rochester Institute of Technology, an internship with a White House photographer in the Reagan administration, and assignments for the National Geographic Society, The New York Times, and photo shoots worldwide. He shares this passion with his wife Anna, who is also his business partner and fellow shooter. Aside from weddings, Akerlund shoots architecture, food, small products, and of course portraits in his studio and on location. He and his wife operate a spacious, two-story, 2000-square-foot studio behind their home in Rockford, Illinois.

Chase Jarvis is one of a new breed of successful young photographers who’s at the top of his game. His use of social networking has brought him an enormous following while his exploration of radical business models is opening new markets. Best known for his lifestyle and sports images, the creative and financial success of his personal projects has earned him top corporate clients like Nikon, Reebok, and Microsoft.

Shutterbug: You have no formal training as a photographer, yet arguably you’re one of the top photographers working today. How’d you get there?

Chase Jarvis: I wish I could answer that in a sentence. I think maybe the shortest description is by being incredibly curious and very hardworking. And throw a whole bunch of luck in there, too. There’s a lot of timing and luck involved in anything I do.

"I built my name and reputation on safety and doing things legally, with permission."

Location is everything, and Peter B. Kaplan built his career on getting to places others couldn't...or wouldn't. Although there are images taken from blimps, balloons, and helicopters, the majority of his photographs are taken from rooftops, scaffolds, antenna...

Robert Farber is renowned for his painterly images. Throughout the years, he's carved a niche with his romantic, illustrative approach to photographing nudes, landscapes and a variety of other subjects that have been featured in books like By The Sea and Farber Nudes.

He's continued this tradition with a new book, entitled American Mood...

All photos by Jay Dickman unless otherwise indicated.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jay Dickman has covered assignments internationally as a photojournalist for the Times-Herald in Dallas, Texas, and as a contributor to National Geographic, as well as shooting for most...

All photos © Lou Manna

New York-based food photographer Lou Manna discusses shooting trends: "The old style of photographing food involved lots of props, edge-to-edge sharpness, dramatic, shadowy light and was shot from a high angle. On the other hand, today's...