This weeks interview will be replaced by a tribute to a fellow photographer.
Â
This past weekend my wife and I made a trip to Watertown, South Dakota to buy a few items from an estate sale for a photographer friend that passed away this past spring. Ralph Richter was a long-time photographer who had come to this country from Europe/Russia and learned his craft through apprenticeship.Â
Â
His photography career started out with school photography and eventually led to all types of photography. In addition, Ralph was a lifetime learner. Not only did he engage in photography as his vocation, he spent many days per year by himself or with friends going on photo safaris to improve his skills and to learn new techniques. He was always at conventions and seminars and in the front row….with his trusty camera (film based) and a cassette recorder. As we went through his studio on Sunday, we found cabinets and shelves full of binders with photos and notes from each of these educational events that Ralph attended.Â
Â
Ralph gave back to the photography profession by serving in all the positions on the South Dakota Professional Photographers Board, as well as being one of the founding members of the Northern Light Professional Photographers Association which at that time included South and North Dakota, along with Minnesota and Wisconsin. Later Wisconsin would drop out and Manitoba would join for a number of years, until recently it’s only North and South Dakota along with Minnesota in the Northern Light Professional Photographers Association.
Â
Ralph also served as a long-time councilor for South Dakota to the Professional Photographers of America and also was a top representative for South Dakota in the American Society of Photographers. Ralph loved to share with other photographers and to enter print competitions. He will be well remembered for his extraordinary prints and the meticulous work he did on his entries each year.
Â
So my column this week is to honor a fellow photographer. Thanks again Ralph!!
