Skip Cohen: What is Photography to You?

Exploring Photography Through Others’ Eyes, Part II

Precise-Moment.com’s second Exposure is dedicated to photography marketing guru Skip Cohen, the President and Founder of Marketing Essentials International, a marketing consulting firm specializing in projects dedicated to education in photography.

Skip has an amazing track record for making photographic endeavors successful for countless photographers and companies, and his advice has helped countless publications, camera companies, and professional photographers succeed.

Cohen has been actively involved in the photography industry his entire career, and has previously held the positions of President of Rangefinder/WPPI, and Hasselblad USA. Skip’s most recent endeavor is SkipCohenUniversity.com, which he launched in January, 2013, which has become one of the fastest growing educational sites and blogs in professional photography.

Precise Moment asked Skip what photography meant to him, and he gave us an enlightening perspective on the photographic medium.

This is what photography means to Skip Cohen:

“It’s an interesting question, because unlike most of the people who I anticipate are going to respond, I don’t make a living as a photographer. However, being part of the industry has been my sole career path my entire adult life and I love it.

I’ve written and talked about this many times:

With the exception of modern medicine, no career field has given the world more than photography. It doesn’t matter what side of the camera or business you’re on, together we’ve all been responsible for helping society capture memories, from the best to the worst…from the joy of a wedding or a new baby being born to the violation of human rights and the tragedies of the world. What would a magazine, newspaper or website look like without images? A wedding album at best would look like the courtroom drawings. Remember the OJ trial?

Photography to me is about passion, memories, creativity, technology, sharing, experiences, friendship, love, growth and documenting the ying and yang of life. Photography, or more accurately put, the photographic industry has been my only ‘employer’.

Singer Marc Anthony is quoted as saying, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life!” Well, that’s me.

I wake up every day smiling and can’t wait to start my day. Every day is different. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t realize how much I still have to learn, but that’s what feeds the passion!” Skip says.

To learn more about Skip you can visit www.skipcohenuniversity.com, and read his articles in both Resource and Shutter Magazines. Skip is also a co-host on SPTV.me, anchor on Weekend Wisdom podcast, and co-host for “Mind Your Own Business,” a monthly webcast with Photofocus.com.