Page 24 - Marilyn

early years. By 1974 with the days of the clas-
sic photo magazines winding down, Douglas
and his wife Francoise decided to move to Los
Angeles where he would work as a special
photographer on some of the most memorable
movies. He worked on movie sets including
Titanic, Out of Africa, and the new Epic film
‘Australia’, due out this Christmas. Although
he has won awards, met presidents, attended
Royal Weddings and has a list of photo sub-
jects that reads like the who’s who of American
film culture, Douglas maintains the same work
ethic and excitement about his job that he did
on that fateful night that Elizabeth Taylor gave
him his first big break. When asked how he
got to where he is today he responds simply “It
required a lot of small steps and never losing
sight of my long term goal. I would set my sight
on someone that I wanted to be like and when
I achieved that level I would raise the bar and
find another person. I never became interested
in Photography to make money. It was the joy
of the art and that it represented freedom and
adventures traveling the world, and finding my
way out of Fort Erie.”

When asked what the field of photography was
like today and what are the chances of becom-
ing a professional photographer in this digital
age, his response was “First, I would say it still
is possible to break into photography, not easy,
24 but possible. You have to be flexible, have a Elizabeth Taylor
strong desire to do it, and not be easily discour-
aged. You have to keep reaching…you may
have heard me say this before, but it is true.
You are only as good as your last photograph.
There is no coasting. It’s a time when all of us,
in all types of work have to keep learning all the
time or we are not pertinent, we’re not with the
time. I still have the same love for it as I did
when I started. I keep that same strong desire,
that deep commitment is vital, and if you don’t
feel that, then your likelihood of success is
substantially diminished. But it starts with ‘yes
you can’…but you must be totally committed to
it. There’s no halfway. It’s competitive enough
that you have to be good at what you do and
all things are possible if you have that strong
feeling.”

Douglas has progressed in his art and has not
been afraid to move from film to digital imaging.
He still shoots with Canon Cameras (see side-
bar on becoming a photographer for Douglas’
personal equipment choices,) and has become
a professional at Adobe Photoshop, another in-
novation that was unheard of in his early days.
Today Douglas and Francoise, whom he refers
to as not only his wife and agent, but his ev-
erything, continue to travel the world making
wonderful memories and even more wonderful
photos.
Audrey Hepburn
May/June 2008