Photographer: Rolando Gomez
When did you know the photography/video industry was for you?
I picked up my first camera when I was nine years of age and fell in love with it then. By my sophomore year in high school I was one of the school photographers and we’d publish a monthly newspaper and a 475-page thick yearbook. This was a rather larger operation for a high school of a town of about 55,000 people. My junior year I was the head photographer and my senior year I became the head of darkroom operations above the new head photographer. I actually received a college scholarship from Union Carbide to later work there in my senior year, and turned it down because I wanted to be a photographer instead of working at a chemical plant like my father who eventually retired from DuPont.
How did you get your current position?
I started teaching photography workshops over 15 years ago to help spread the gospel of photography while working my full-time job, first as a U.S. Army soldier, then an U.S. Air Force civilian, for the Army and Air Force News Service the military’s equivalent to the civilian wire services—we provided stories and photos to over 12,000 civilian newspapers.
I finally had to quit my job because my self-employment took over and I enjoyed it more. Hardest decision I ever made, giving up a Federal retirement after 17 years of total service. That was about eight years ago.
How did your training or schooling prepare you for your job?
I don’t consider my self-employment as a photographer, author and writer as a job or occupation, I look at it more like my life, love and passion that helps pay the bills. There is no time clock to punch in. The downside, being self-employed, I work more hours than when I had a job, but the fun part, being self-employed I can work in my sweats or pajamas when I’m not traveling or working on assignment.
Though I might add, the eight plus years as an active-duty combat photographer for the U.S. Army gave me a lot of experience especially covering the Operation Support Justice (Drug War) in South and Central America for 26 months. Between the military and my civilian career, I’ve had the privilege to work on assignment in 42 countries.
I also photographed the San Antonio Spurs for five years as an NBA credentialed photographer, and my largest tearsheet as a photojournalist was a cover story for Parade magazine, circulation 30 million, co-illustrated with the late Eddie Adams about soldiers guarding the Holy Land in the Sinai Desert, Egypt. Photojournalism principals bleed into all my photography.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your career?
There is only one guarantee in self-employment, zero. There are times where you eat, times where you starve. It’s not always easy. The obstacle is ongoing and never ends, while trying to find time for family. Distractions and deadlines are everywhere. You learn who your real friends are fast. You have more friends when things are rolling good, then for some reason, so-called friends disappear when they sense you might be struggling. Perhaps that’s the real obstacle, the on-going struggle to juggle everything and everyone.
Who would you name as the most influential person in shaping your career? Why?
Many people have helped shape my career including my clients and the people that follow my work. The most influential ones in the beginning were the editors and photo editors. Then you reach a certain point and you turn to your mentor or mentors. My long-distant mentor that has given me much guidance is Robert Farber, a true photography icon. Then there are the non-living mentors, as you should study other artists’ work and in my case, I’ve studied the work of Helmut Newton and Jeanloup Sieff.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Land would work, but a place where I could practice my photography in privacy and a place where I could write peace.
To see more of Rolando’s work, visit:
Professional Portfolio, RolandoGomez.com
Photography Workshops, RolandoGomez.net
Photography Tips: https://sunbouncepro.com/photography-tips/
Verified Twitter, Twitter.com/rolandogomez
Facebook Fan Page, facebook.com/rgomezphoto
Instagram, instagram.com/rolandogomez/
