Rowan Gillson
Name: Rowan Gillson
Hometown: Sandy, OR
Primary camera: Canon EOS 1D-MkIIn
Experience: 14 years
Qualifications: Adobe Certified in Photoshop, America 24/7 contributing photographer, IPS Director since 2002
Client Organizations: Institute in Basic Life Principles, The Vision Forum, New Zealand Baptist Union, Prison Fellowship Fiji, Government of Fiji, Summit Ministries, Lausanne Movement
Specialty: International travel; Asian culture, religion, landscape; weddings & events
Priceless photo op: The first Palm Sunday
Free advice: When you can do nothing else, fill the frame.
I think of photography as a tool for communicating, and I think of myself at least as much of a communicator as an artist. The popular notion in photography is bent toward self-expression, where the artist is god, and art is extremely individualistic and dedicated to the glorification of bizarre and abstract ideas. But that doesn’t correspond with how life really is: shared, common, relational. To neglect this simple reality effectively strips art of its power to edify culture with true ideas and constructive messages.
Running IPS allows me to invest in other people’s lives. The poet John Donne said, “No man is an island entire of himself.” Jesus Christ said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I love how in the five-day span of an average workshop, I have the opportunity to share life lessons—retrieved from the antipodes—with students who are just embarking on their own life adventures.
Professionally, I strive to make the organizations and their causes I believe in more effective in communicating their core messages through the excellent use of media. Without communication, our world falls apart. Without effective communication, even the truest, most powerful of ideas fall short of their potential to improve the world.