1970
ADVENTURE BEGINS with the first photograph published and paid for by the Chicago Tribune. Suddenly the camera became a ticket to adventure…
50-Years of Vision Quest
THE 70’s STARTED A VISUAL JOURNEY, fresh, exciting, full of innocence. Encounters, whether temporal or spiritual, all contributed to powerful awakenings. It was a dance of light, form, and faith—all converging out of chaos — through the camera — into moments of pure visual ecstasy.
PORTFOLIOS will be updated as a future blog. Sign-up to be updates.
ADVENTURE BEGINS with the first photograph published and paid for by the Chicago Tribune. Suddenly the camera became a ticket to adventure…
YEAR OF ANTICIPATION First-year of College, trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Former LOOK Magazine photographer became a…
YEAR OF AWAKENING my vision quest became a source of visual revelation. I stepped into a symphony of synchronicity…
YEAR OF ENCROACHMENT in the jungles of Central and South America, I played in the fields of the Lord. I photographed faith-based …
TRANSITIONING BACK The acquisition of massive amounts of photographs in the ’70s meant years of darkroom work. INCUBATING this vast…
MY NEED FOR SYNCHRONICITY took the camera to the road. It was a quest for visual accidents, the uncontrolled moments full of moving variables.
DISCOVERING WILDERNESS It’s the illusions that are peeled away by the realities of my wilderness. From jungles to the road and into the wilderness…
FACING REFORMATION From the jungles, back to school to New York and all the roads in between, it was time to stop bushwacking.
PEDDLING PHOTOGRAPHS Seeking assignments in New York was a vain act yielding little satisfaction. The market is always saturated.
BREAKOUT YEAR came with a front cover and articles in major magazines. Then to the best photojournalistic newspaper in the country.
DECADE OF ADVENTURE: Fresh and exciting, a decade of innocent encounters, whether temporal or spiritual, all powerful awakenings. A dance of light, faith, and form, converging in time, out of chaos into moments of delight and awe.
ADVENTURE BEGINS with the first photograph published and paid for by the Chicago Tribune. Suddenly the camera became a ticket to adventure…
CONCERT MANAGER
A future blog about Claire Griffin will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1998.
AIRLINE EXECUTIVE
Future blog page about Joel CHusid will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1994.
FILM PRODUCER
A future blog page about Olympian Michael Gebhardt will be completed here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1983.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Future blog page about Harley Soltes will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1979.
PROFESSOR
A future blog about my longest known friend Paul Jernberg will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1969.
PULITZER PRIZE PHOTOJOURNALIST
A future blog about Brian Lankerwill be added here. Enter now to see photos. Circa 2002.
AIRLINE EXECUTIVE
Future blog page about Joel CHusid will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1994.
PHOTOGRAPHER
A future blog page about the late Magnum photographer Leonard Freed will be completed here. Enter to see photos. Circa 1985.
ORGANIC FARMER
A future blog about Walter Ordwaywill be added here. Enter now to see photos. Circa 2010.
CONCERT PIANIST/MISSIONARY
A future blog about Susan Hsueh Linwill be added here. Enter now to see photos. Circa 1979.
SAILMAKER
Future blog page about Monty Spindler will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1993.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Future blog page about Bill Snead will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 2010.
EXCECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Welcome to the future blog page about Anna Winand. Assistant to the Director of the International Center of Photography. Enter to see photos. Since 1973
BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER
Future blog page about Gregory Thorne will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1994.
ANOTHER FAMILY
Future blog page about Bob & Marilyn Thorne will be added here. Enter now to see photos. Since 1994.
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-Continued from Published
Bob Gilka, the Director of Photography at National Geographic Magazine seem to resent me for sleeping with the enemy. He was not about to further my career. He saw me as a rule-breaker. Someone unbefitting to his proven talents even though I graduated from the very top of his associated institutions. He never gave me a single assignment, voluntarily, that is. Thirty years later, his assistant sought me out at a gathering and told me he was near death.
I embraced her, asked her to wish him my best and to tell him how much I’ve admired and looked up to him. Her eyes glassed; in a tender, almost apologetic voice, she said. “Thank you, John, I know it will mean a lot to Mr. Gilka to hear this coming from you.”
Gilka was an ego-driven drill sergeant whose magazine was his oligarchy. The reputation and mystique behind the magazine suited him well. My first encounter with the man was in his office. Like all aspiring photographers, we made our way to be ordained. On his door, the sign said, Wipe Your Knees Before Entering.
“You need to work for a newspaper!” was his response after viewing my portfolio. Sheepishly told him I was offered a job in a Kansas newspaper but turned-it-down because I didn’t want to leave NYC. Before I could finish, he yelled: “Who Clarkson!?”
Surprised by the outburst, I timidly said, “Yes!” He stared at me for an eternity. I swear I saw smoke sputter out of his head. He hissed, “NOW, IF THAT IS TRUE! You have to be the dumbest jack-ass ever walked into my office!”
With his doubting eyes, he glared at me as if he’d caught me in a lie. “Do you know how many photographers would give their right arm to be at the Capital-Journal?!” My sheepishness must have confirmed his suspicions. Not being a student of journalism, I was unaware of the extensive network this drill-sergeant uses to gather his Geographic talents. Colleges, newspapers across the country, the bastion of the Missouri Workshop, were all part of his well-established web. That morning, I was utterly unaware; Topeka Capital-Journal was the pinnacle of his recruitment network. Anyone hired there would not have gone unnoticed, and anyone declining a job there is a liar. “Well, get the hell out there and come back after you have some newspaper experience.” (I swear I’ve got a bruise on my rear to prove it ;-).
So I called Rich Clarkson and asked if the job offer was still good.
A FEW YEARS LATER, I sat in the same office facing the same doubting face. Chief Editor, Bill Garrett insisted that he assign me to photograph an article I’d proposed on Taiwan. After weeks of delay, he reluctantly offered me a fraction of the day-rate compared to GEO and later made a stink about the Chinese receipts I submitted. I did not get more assignments from him even though the Taiwan article was credited to be “transformative.” I don’t know what that meant, but it was, the first time Geographic published blurred pictures. So when his assistant made the non-verbal apology, I was surprised and wished that I had the opportunity to sit and laugh with the old geezer some 30-years later.
I understand Bob Gilka; we had mutual friends. I will always be grateful to him. Firstly, in helping me realize what newspaper work means. Secondly, in affirming my conviction NOT to wear corporate success as a form of personal achievement. Throughout the years, I knew he was surprised to hear my name intertwined in conversations. I was the jack-ass that kept beating the drum but didn’t follow his path. I think, in the end, he would have applauded me for doing this. RIP
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