Randy Olson
Randy Olson is a photographer in the social-documentary tradition. He often works with his wife, Melissa Farlow, and their assignments have taken them to over 50 countries in the past 30 years. Although they are published in LIFE, GEO, Smithsonian and other magazines, they have primarily photographed projects for the National Geographic Society. They work individually but have also co-produced National Geographic magazine stories on northern California,
In 2011, Randy founded The Photo Society (thephotosociety.org) to provide support for, and exposure to National Geographic photographers as the economics of print dwindles. The National Geographic photographers elected Randy to represent them on the Photographers Advisory Board (PAB) – a group that represents the photographers in contract negotiations with National Geographic. During his tenure, the PAB successfully rebuffed National Geographic’s attempt to take away the photographer’s copyright and The Photo Society was born as a result of the increasing need for National Geographic photographers to stand together.
The Photo Society has a reach of five million on social and sponsors monthly free lectures that allow an audience to spend an hour learning about a specific topic or photographer. When National Geographic Image Collection (NGIC) closed the agency and its archive to the outside world, making many of its most-published photographers invisible, he began resurrecting the NGIC archive under the auspices of The Photo Society. The Photo Society Archive (thephotosocietyarchive.com) is a 501c3, funded by donations. He previously received a grant from the National Archives to save the POYi collection.
Randy’s National Geographic magazine coverages of Plastics, Gold, Water, Fisheries, Salmon, Population and other issues center on resource extraction and associated ecosystems. Reaching a million on social media, his awards include an Alicia Patterson Fellowship (and Alfred Eisenstadt award) for a seven-year project about a family with AIDS, 1st place Robert F. Kennedy Photojournalism award for problems with Section 8 housing, Nikon Sabbatical Grant, Magazine Photographer of the Year and Newspaper Photographer of the Year in Pictures of the Year contest (POYi)—one of only two photographers to win in both media in the largest photojournalism contest operating continuously since World War II. More recently, Randy is the recipient of the 2017 Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) Photographer of the Year, and the 2021 Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (HIPA) International Photography Appreciation Award. SIPA and HIPA—only one consonant apart—but represent different parts of the world honouring his photography and volunteer work.
Published Books:
National Geographic Masters of Photography Series—Randy Olson
County Fairs— National Geographic Books Division
The South, The Beautiful— Collins Publishers
Exhibitions:
2021 — Saillon Cite D’Image Exhibition, Saillon Switzerland
2019 — United Nations, Plastics or Planet? New York NY
2019 — Plastic Apocalypse, Siena International Photo Exhibition. Siena Italy
2019 — Exhibition Porto Antico on Genova’s waterfront. Genova Italy
2011 — Duality, iWitness Gallery, Portland Oregon
2011 — PhotoWorld Photography Center, Istanbul, Turkey
2010 —Visa pour L’image, Omo River Valley, Perpignan France
2009 — The World at Our Door, Silver Eye Gallery, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA
2007 — Visa pour L’image, Global Fisheries, Perpignan France
2004 — Carnegie Library and Museum of Art, Sudan, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA2003 — Visa pour L’image, Sudan, Perpignan France
