Sometimes, all it takes for a photographer to “make it”, is one photograph – Here’s Tom Ryaboi’s story of being discovered.
About a year ago, Canadian photographer Tom Ryaboi shot this photo from a rooftop in Toronto. After posting it to Flickr, Reddit and 500px, the photo’s view counts exploded – it received over 50,000 views on 500px alone, and Tom’s work was launched into the spotlight. On the 19th of May 2011, he woke up to over 500 emails, including interview requests from the BBC and National Geographic.
Now, getting one’s 15 minutes in the limelight does not ensure continued success, but sometimes that is all a photographer needs – to have his or her work discovered. It’s amazing how quickly this can happen too. You can be shooting and sharing great work for years, with little to no response, only to have your world turned upside down in one day. Go read Tom’s incredible story on the 500px blog.
Here’s the six frames that lead up to Tom’s “I’ll Make Ya Famous” shot:
So who took the shots of him taking the shots …?!
Hi Shaun, no one did – he was shooting photos of his friend who was also shooting the horizon with a fisheye.
It is wonderful that someone can get noticed like this. Excellent encouragement and hard work will pay off eventually. Great story – Thanks!!