Cameras flashed wildly last night in Baker University Center Theatre as Douglas Kirkland took listeners on a picture-book journey through his career.
The event, titled “Douglas Kirkland’s 50-Year Love Affair with Photography,” was organized and sponsored by Canon USA.
Kirkland is a world-renowned photographer who has worked with many celebrity clients, including Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Morgan Freeman.
“Your school is respected worldwide,” Kirkland said at the start of the presentation. “I’ve always been aware of Ohio University.”
The photographer offered advice to OU students. He recommended that photographers always keep the originals of every photo, get to know their clients on a personal level and emphasize their skills and accomplishments to potential clients.
Some of Kirkland’s advice could have been directed to students of any major.
“If you just think to yourself, ‘Yes, I can,’ you can get through anything,” he said. “Push the limits and make the most of what you can do.”
Kirkland’s career took off in the early 1960s when he was given the opportunity to photograph Elizabeth Taylor. Since that time, he has worked on the sets of more than 100 movies, taken numerous celebrity portraits and written 20 books. He took photos for the best-selling book, James Cameron’s Titanic, which has sold more than one million copies.
Further information about Kirkland and his work can be found online at www.douglaskirkland.com.
Terry Eiler, director of the School of Visual Communication, said Kirkland has always been a role model to him.
“Every time I have looked at something done by Douglas Kirkland, I have always been in awe,” Eiler said.
Kirkland has been named one of Canon’s Explorers of Light. That program, developed in the mid-1900s by the Canon Camera Company, comprises more than 60 successful photographers and cinematographers. Every year, Canon USA sends those Explorers of Light to universities with strong photography and photojournalism programs — this year, to OU.
Some of the students in attendance said they were fascinated by Kirkland’s story.
“I thought it was amazing,” said Megan Gilfert, a sophomore studying anthropology and French. “I loved seeing his photographs, and his attitude is contagious. He is inspirational.”
