BALANCING PRIORITIESTed Rice has been a successful photographer for many years.
He is the person who comes to mind when I think of a photo-
grapher who is invested in building a business and a life from a
position of being aware. He has recently made a life change that
has temporarily taken him out of the mainstream photo world.
He has made this decision in order to “live” the values that he has
set for himself, and here he explains the decision:One of the things that I’ve always found interesting
about the photography business is that there is not just
one business model. There are a wide range of models,
each of which can provide success. For a long time
I made portrait and people pictures for the commercial
market and was tightly focused on expanding the eco-
nomic and aesthetic elements of my business. Over
time I achieved many of my goals and at the same time
began a family. My priorities began to shift and, as
much as I loved photography, I loved being at home
with my wife and kids even more. It has been hard to
resolve the tension between work and family, but for me
there has never been a doubt that my family comes first.
My wife is an academic and this year I am taking a page
from her playbook: I am taking a sabbatical in which
I’m involved in activities that have nothing to do with
photography, not the least of which is being much
more involved in the day-to-day life of my family. I am
still taking some jobs as they fit our family schedule and
am happy to work when I do, but it is not the priority it
once was. Hard to say where it will lead, but after strug-
gling with this issue for several years, it seems best to
just relax and see where “the river flows.”In order to deliver on your beliefs, as Ted continues to do,
and to begin to develop a successful business based on your
values, you will need to become familiar with what a successful
photo business looks like to you. This is a large task and indeed
the first step toward building a business that is developed around
your values, a business that will be created to serve your needs.PART1 / VALUESChapter 01.qxd 7/3/07 12:19 PM Page 4