Randal Ford is an American photographer and portraitist notable for his work ''The Animal Kingdom'', as well as his photography for '' Texas Monthly''. Based in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, his work has been featured in ''

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

'', '' Texas Monthly'', and '' Communication Arts''. In contrast to other photographers and institutions that capture images of animals, Randal Ford's work seeks to photograph animals in studio to give the impression that "the animals are introducing themselves."

Early life

Randal Ford grew up in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, where he attended Highland Park High School. He graduated from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, where he studied business and dabbled in photography through shooting for the student newspaper. While studying at the university, Ford was influenced by Richard Avedon's work, '' In the American West'', "that captured the spirit of place through people Avedon encountered at slaughterhouses, ranches, and state fairs."

Career

Randal Ford began his career as a wildlife photographer with a photoshoot in a rural area of Texas, near the city of

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, that highlighted farm life. This was featured in ''Dairy Today''. Inspired by Richard Avedon, Randal Ford uses the aesthetic promulgated '' In the American West'', making "Head-on portraits with a no-frills sensibility", except centered on animals, rather than on persons. Ford, in explaining his reasoning in photographing animals, stated: ''The Animal Kingdom'' took two years to complete, with Randal Ford spending time on both commercial and editorial photography. The animals featured in the work were sometimes obtained from ''Hollywood Animals'' and '' Cat Haven''; the photoshoots themselves were done using a professional-grade

Nikon D850 The Nikon D850 is a professional-grade full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) produced by Nikon. The camera was officially announced on July 25, 2017 (the 100th anniversary of Nikon's founding), launched on August 24, 2017, and firs ...

. The one hundred and fifty animals that Ford captured for this project included a brown goat, mountain lion, bull, duck, chimpanzee, skunk, peacock, cheetah, great horned owl,

two-toed sloth ''Choloepus'' is a genus of xenarthran mammals of Central and South America within the monotypic family Choloepodidae, consisting of two-toed sloths, sometimes also called two-fingered sloths. The two species of ''Choloepus'' (which means "lame ...

, African elephant and

American buffalo American Buffalo may refer to: *American Buffalo (play), ''American Buffalo'' (play), a play by David Mamet *American Buffalo (film), ''American Buffalo'' (film), a 1996 film of Mamet's play directed by Michael Corrente *American Buffalo (coin), a ...

, among others. ''The Animal Kingdom'' placed number one in the International Photo Awards competition in 2017. ''The Animal Kingdom: A Collection of Portraits'' is published by

Rizzoli Rizzoli is an Italian surname. People *Achilles Rizzoli (1896–1981), an American artist *Angelo Rizzoli (1889–1970), an Italian publisher ** RCS MediaGroup, formerly "A. Rizzoli & C." and "Rizzoli Editore", a publishing company founded by Angel ...

and Funds collected from purchases of ''The Animal Kingdom'' are dispatched to Project Survival’s Cat Haven, a park engaged in the preservation of wild cats. Randal Ford has photographically recreated covers for

L.L.Bean L.L.Bean is an American privately-held retail company that was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. The company, headquartered in the place in which it was founded, in Freeport, Maine, specializes in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment. ...

, including antique covers, as well as vintage illustrations, for modern use. The cover story of the August 2013 issue of ''

'' discussed "the growing trend of childless couples in America" and its illustrations were photographed by Randal Ford, who stated that his "goal for the cover was to show two people as a family unit". He similarly recreated the 1961 cover for '' Field & Stream''. Ford has shot more than twenty covers for the '' Texas Monthly'' magazine. Randal Ford's portraits formed the basis for the book ''The Amazing Faith of Texas'', a survey of the various faiths followed by the residents of the American state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The book was published by the

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

References

External links

Randal Ford
(Fine Art Website)
Randal Ford
(Portfolio Website)
Gallery: photographs by Randal Ford
-

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

Wildly Personified by MP Mueller
- Tribeza {{authority control American photographers Artists from Austin, Texas Texas A&M University alumni