Kevin FitzPatrick. Conservation Photographer - Bio Blitz Specialist
Over the years, I worked in New York and other major cities in the theatre, recording studios, and TV, doing stints as sound technician, sound supervisor, recording engineer, television cameraman, director and producer during the 60’s and 70’s. I’ve worked as a photographer and Multi-Image producer for more than 40 years and have also taught these skills as a college professor at the University of South Carolina. Credits include more than 20 New York theatre productions, albums for Atlantic, Mercury, and Columbia records, including such artists as Louis Armstrong, the Allman Brothers, Roberta Flack, Weather Report, Yusuf Lateef , BB King and Eric Clapton as well as several TV specials such as George M and the 1970 Tony Awards. I worked for the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969 as a Sound Engineer as Sound Supervisor at Philharmonic Hall in 1970. I’ve written and produced numerous multi-Image shows, including one on the Southern Appalachian region that was presented at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, TN and received an award for special achievement in nature photography at Atlanta’s 1983 Multi-Image Festival. My recordings of the Highlands Chamber Music Festival have been heard for several seasons during the 90’s on NPR’s Performance Today.
In 1983, I started Media Divide Productions in order to provide media production services for those interested in preserving the natural and cultural heritage of the Southern Appalachian region. In 1998, I got involved in a Project in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park called the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI), which is an attempt at inventorying all of the species in the Park. I began photographing the 300 scientists that are studying everything from viruses to mammals there. In 1999, I formed All Species Photography & Sound; and shifted my emphasis toward documenting biodiversity, and promoting the importance of environmental education. During the past several years, I have photographed assignments for the National Forest Service and The National Park Service. My photographs have appeared in publications of the North Carolina Nature Conservancy, the North and South Carolina Wildlife Federations, Nature Photography Magazine, Our State North Carolina, Southern Environmental Law Center, Massachusetts Audubon, National Geographic, and GEO magazine. I have taught several seminars on multi-image production for the North American Nature Photography Association and have natural sound recording workshops for the Nature Sounds Society, Oakland, CA. In 2003, I moved to New England to work with a number of organizations that were working on their own ATBI Project. These included the Boston Harbor Islands, Acadia National Park and the Adirondack All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. I came back to North Carolina in 2007 to pursue working with Bio Blitzes around the country from Maine to California. To date I have attended almost 50.
I moved back to my hometown, Highlands, NC, in 2015 to pursue the Bio Blitz Concept as a consultant and conservation photographer full time.
Memberships in Associations
Past member – Society of motion Picture and Television Engineers
Past member & chapter president – Association for Multi-Image International
Current member– North American Nature Photography Association Fellow
Current member – American Society of Media Photographers
Current Senior member – International League of Conservation Photographers
Lifetime member – Nature Sound Society
Awards
Association for Multi-Image International – Special Achievement in Nature Photography, 1983
International Association of Business Communicators - Silver Quill Award of Merit, 1998
North American Nature Photography Association – The Russ Kinne Award, 2000
North American Nature Photography Association – Outstanding Service Award, 2006
North American Nature Photography Association – received the designation of NANPA Fellow, 2009