Photojournalist D. Colegrove
From the Battle field to the Country Club.
Since
1980 Daniel Colegrove has in his words "Eked out a
living by borrowing God's light and selling the results
to voyeurs" He began his career with very little formal
photographic education at the age of 16. By 19 having
already photographed 3 major conflicts spent time in a
Chilean prison and by 23 had earned a BA in psychology.
His gritty style has mellowed a bit but this image
caries on.
" I couldn't say Daniel is a type A personality" says print Journalist Myra Edison "But I don't think he ever slept between 1980 and 1994" Mrs. Edison who was doing background research for an editorial project stumbled into much of Colegrove's early work along with documentation of the copyright sale and subsequent crediting of his work to other photographers. " I thought it was not only a travesty but a fraud, this photographer's work is even still being published and used by -others-. It wasn't just the images, the bravery involved in shooting them was almost shocking "
Mr. Colegrove being passionate and fascinated with photography also experimented with laser and other light sources to develop hidden images while working as a photographer for -law enforcement- furthering the science of forensic photography.
Mr. Colegrove who had suffered from chronic alcoholism and drug abuse during much of this time then was "struck sober" (his words) in 1991. Though he continued to shoot conflicts until 1994 he "toned it down" because he had responsibilities to others and the risk was too high. When asked in a 1995 interview about people taking credit for his work his response was simply to laugh and said "well they paid for it".
Having photographed quite a few weddings as a photojournalist in the 80's prior to the style coming into vogue (in the early 90's) the demand for him at weddings skyrocketed up to 1995 he had photographed more than 300 weddings " I never could have imagined that I'd be a wedding photographer" Daniel shook his head. "Now, I can't imagine standing in the middle of a war getting shot at trying to change film; It was crazy" he continued "So here I am, still alive, sober father of two, hanging out in the country club shooting the brides first dance".
He continues in his quest to get the shot as a press photographer in softer assignments though none the less action packed and emotionally charged "(and) carry a smaller chance of getting shot or imprisoned" He is active on a local and national level concerning First Amendment Rights and Copyright legislation as well as mentoring and performing community service using his camera skills to "bring reality to light"
His works can be seen here: Santa Barbara and Ventura, California Wedding Photojournalist. including articles about photojournalism, Photography and Life.
Article copyright © 1999 ProPhotographer - Republished Edited version (names removed at subjects request) with permission 2005 DigitalPhotojournalist.org.
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