Rick Colson was literally born in a photo studio and was a working photographer from age 14. By the time he could drive, he was shooting as chief photographer for Boston After Dark and doing assignment work for local television shows, album covers, and advertising/fashion work for local retailers. He formalized and honed his skills as an undergraduate at RIT. Rick's interests in writing, design and visual communications eventually led him to a Harvard masters degree.

A client-side career in marketing, advertising and business took him away from professional imaging for many years, but he is now working in environmental portraiture. His marketing life includes stints as US product manager for Hasselblad, Agfa's professional photographic products, Paterson darkroom equipment and as senior ad executive in the most profitable and innovative period at Polaroid Corporation. His consulting work includes projects for Nikon, Polaroid Medical Imaging Systems, Cone Piezography, Crane & Company and many others in imaging, healthcare and technology.

Awards

Rick's marketing work has received virtually every award the communications industry has to offer including a Gold and Silver Effie, numerous BPAA awards, Andy, New York Art Directors, Boston Art Directors, Hatch, Edison, Desi and New York International Film and Television Festival Gold, among others.

Academics

• Ed.M., Harvard University Graduate School of Education
• B.A., Clinical Psychology, Cum Laude, Hiram College
• A.A.S., Photographic Illustration With Honors, Rochester Institute of Technology with further studies in photography, visual arts and psychology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The University of New Hampshire

Additional Information

• Former member of the founding Board of the Graduate Program in Professional Communications in the College of Professional and Continuing Education at Clark University
• Leader, Alternate Careers for Educators, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; past member, Independent Consultants Panel, Harvard Graduate Schoolof Education
• Guest lecturer, Marketing and Ethics, Simmons College
• Guest columnist in ADWEEK Magazine
• Author, Don't Blink, The Changing Face of Digital and Analog Marketing, published online by Cahners Business Information
• Portfolio "Harvard Square" - street portraits represented by Panopticon Gallery, Waltham, Mass.