Daily Inspiration: Meet Mark Richard Ross

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Richard Ross.

Hi Mark Richard, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have had a few careers in and around the arts before a life in photography came clearly into focus. I began my work life as an elementary school teacher in New York City, where while pursuing a Master’s degree in Theater at nearby Hofstra University, I founded and ran the East Harlem Children’s Theater Workshop. I later transitioned to Syracuse, New York, where I spent the next few years as a curator at the Everson Museum before the daily dose of “lake effect” rain (or snow) got to me and I moved west to warm, dry and ever sunny Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, like many before me, I was seduced by and fell headlong into the entertainment industry. Over the next few years, I wrote and/or acted in episodes of some popular television programs – from The Bionic Woman to Fantasy Island and St. Elsewhere (among others). Ultimately, working in TV was not satisfying to me and writing and/or acting no longer held any interest.

An early fascination with computers and imaging led to my starting a database/imaging company in the early 80’s that began demanding my full attention. The decision of what to do was easy. I left “the biz” and ran that company – OnWord Information – until I sold it to Motorola in the early 90’s. This was mostly a good thing. However, after starting a number of successful (and unsuccessful Internet companies in the mid 90’s, I again grew restless.

I accepted a position as a Managing Director of an M&A investment banking firm and “officially” have been helping business owners sell their companies ever since. As rewarding (and challenging) as this career has been, something was still missing. (Is there a trend here?) I realized that I needed to rediscover my life in art but did not know what I wanted to do to engage that other side of my brain.

The birth of my only child, my daughter Caroline, brought photography back into my life… doting father, documenting every moment, you know the drill. Some of the pictures I took were deemed “really” good”; this, in spite of the fact that I did not really know what I was doing. I wondered if I could repeat the process of taking a good picture– deliberately? And what was a good picture? Did I have a vision or was I just going to take “pretty” pictures? I began to study, spending a lot of time, energy (and a fair amount of money) learning the craft. I am still learning. This is one of the joys of photography. I am always learning.

In the intervening years, I have been published in national photo journals, had two one-person gallery shows, participated in a number of group shows, and been invited to partake in some very interesting photography projects. Many examples of my work can be seen on my photographic website, markrichardross.com.

My work, my photographic vision, is as eclectic as my life has been. For me, photography and a life in photography is about process and dialogue. I invite you to contact me, either to comment on my images, to begin a dialogue. or to purchase them if you are so moved.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No road in life is exactly smooth, whether in or out of the arts. An artist’s real task is to explore and push the boundaries of one’s creative vision. This is difficult and often results in failure, which if you are honest with yourself and brave enough, can often become the best teacher. Too many artists hit upon something successful and then simply repeat that work over and over. To me, this is a waste of talent and energy. The artists and their work that move me the most dare to leave the known universe for the unknown, where creativity is linked to (artistic) survival. That is exciting.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I find beauty everywhere and that is what I always seek to photograph, document, share and remember. My work is so eclectic, I am often asked what I like to shoot – landscapes, portraits, street-work, architecture, flowers, sports… and my answer is always YES! I make pictures of light. – light reflected, light absorbed, light remembered. As George Eastman, one of the “fathers” of photography long ago said, “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The photography books that have most informed my photography work are (in no particular order): The Decisive Moment and In The Mind’s Eye, both by Henri Cartier-Bresson; The Day Books of Edward Weston; The Photographer’s Eye by John Szarkowski; and The Nature Of Photographs by Stephen Shore. This is by no means a definitive list, but I think these books are essential reading for any student or collector of photography.

Pricing:

• Limited edition prints start at $500. Please inquire.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.markrichardross.com
• Instagram: @markrichardross
• Facebook: /Mark.Richard.Ross

Image Credits:
All images (c) Mark Richard Ross