Creativity to the Max in Publishing and Photography

I am a part of all that I have met.
Alfred Lord Tennyson

​by Skip Cohen

I've used the quote above a lot, but usually when talking about somebody who's been a major influence in our lives, and has become a part of us. Well, this is a similar reference, but in this case, it applies to things that influence our creativity—ideas that come from everyday products and events in our lives.

The year is 2006, and George Varanakis, then VP of Sales for Rangefinder Publishing, had an idea. He came into my office at Rangefinder and simply said, "Why couldn't we do this?" He held up a copy of Men's Health, which had been paginated in two directions. Reading it one way was Men's Health, and turning it over was a different magazine about fitness. At that point, Rangefinder Magazine was one of the biggest and most respected magazines in photography, but George was always looking for ways for it to grow more.

George and I went to talk about it with Bill Hurter, who is, still to this day, one of the very finest editors to have ever been in photography. He passed away many years ago, but his influence is still around, and he was brilliant. We brainstormed for a while, came up with a name, and then pitched it to RF's owner, who was less than thrilled. But we persisted---there is no expiration date on great ideas!

At Photo East that year, George and I pitched it to all the major suppliers, most of whom were already advertisers in RF and exhibitors at WPPI. We put together a slide presentation, locked in a conference room at Javits, and scheduled meetings every 30-60 minutes for three days. The response was overwhelming with enough advertisers to make After Capture a reality. 

The first issue featured a fun image of Lynn Goldsmith's. That's her face on the mannequin on the right above. If you don't know who Lynn is, it's time for her to be on your radar. She recently won a landmark case that went to the Supreme Court on copyright against the Andy Warhol Foundation.

​Below are two more of my favorite covers!

While this could easily have been a Throwback Thursday post, there's a more important point I wanted to make.

We're surrounded by great ideas in other applications every day. So often it takes another pair of eyes to recognize the potential. With AfterCapture, George V. had a vision and as a team, it became a reality. RF would evolve into everything that went into capturing an image, while AC would cover whatever was done after the shutter was clicked.

Besides being a great friend for all these years, George is one of the most creative marketing managers in the industry, but here's one more thing to think about.

Each of you have friends who see the world a little differently than you do. You also have a network of friends and associates who can help you through the day-in-day-out challenges. They can also help you step into the future...but they can't do anything if you insist on flying solo. Share your ideas for the future, your goals and your aspirations with a few of those people you trust the most. 

That old line about it takes a village, couldn't be more appropriate to running your business and being successful.

And to George...thanks buddy. Finding these covers brings back so many great ideas that came out of those early days at RF/WPPI.