TTIM 39 – Bipolar Photography with Ron Clifford - a podcast by Ugo Cei and Ralph Velasco
from 2016-08-30T05:00:38
A few weeks ago, when I asked Ron Clifford to be my guest on the podcast, we discussed what topics we could converse about and he quipped that we could mention his distinction of being a “bipolar” photographer.
At first, I thought he was referring to having visited and photographed both the Arctic and the Antarctic, but what I discovered during the interview is that Ron had been suffering for years of bipolar depression.
I think it was very brave of him to mention this and to tell the story of how travel and photography helped him overcome his condition.
This is what Ron says of himself:
I am an artist, coach, and creative mentor with a unique ability to help unlock the creative ninja that lives inside every person. You could say I really do is explore my world through the connections my camera helps me create – and to help others overcome roadblocks and see blind spots along their own creative journey.
I have the best job in the whole world.
I love to shoot in Nature, especially the landscape and wildlife photography. Recently I have been very fortunate to be able to build my portfolio of images from the extreme regions of the planet. Both the Arctic and Antarctica. Along with my passion for the natural world, I love to photograph people and I remain a very active portrait photographer. I always say,
“Do what you can’t help but do“
and for me that is to explore the natural world, photograph the people in it and teach others to do the same.
I believe we only truly reach our potential when we learn to help others. To lift each other up. We were made for community and family and in a certain way, that’s what I do. I build community and strengthen bonds through the experience of photography. Nothing can compare to getting involved in building up another person’s real life.
I don’t want to brag, however, just so you know, I have been featured in the top 1% most endorsed Canadian Fine Art Photographers on Linkedin, (Spring 2013) – and I am the Most Followed photographer and most followed male on G+ in Canada with nearly 3 million followers. Even publications like National Geographic, PhotoExtract Magazine, and the “Plus One Collection have granted me the pleasure of contributing to them.
I believe we are created to be creative, that our creativity is not a special endowment or fleeting feeling, it is who we are. We each have unique strengths and gifts to use in this world and I believe that God has provided me with my talents to help me be in touch with what He desires… His Creation, His Community.
Having been tutored by Ron in one of his courses, I can definitely attest to that. He’s a natural born educator and I think this quality show clearly in this interview. If you want to know what drives Ron to help others on their creative journey, I encourage you to listen to it.
Duration 36m 05s.
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Music for this episode: “Zanzibar” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Further episodes of The Traveling Image Makers
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