Rick Smolan

Brainstormer, Connector, Entrepreneur, Explorer, Idea generator, Journalist, Marketer, Parent, Photographer, Producer

Rick Smolan is a former Time, Life, and National Geographic photographer, best known as the co-creator of the "Day in the Life" book series. Today, Smolan's directs global photography projects which combine creative storytelling with state-of-the-art technology. Many of his books have appeared on the New York Times best-seller lists and have been featured on the covers of Fortune, Time, GEO, Epoca, Oggi, The London Sunday Times and dozens of other publications around the globe. His latest book (2018), THE GOOD FIGHT: AMERICA'S ONGOING STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, produced in partnership with co-author Jennifer Erwitt, is a powerful reminder of how much progress America has made over the past 100 years against hatred, bigotry, racism, misogyny, homophobia and injustice and what's at risk right now. The book was made possible thanks to the generous support of The Ant-Defamation League. In the fall of 2012 Smolan and Erwitt created THE HUMAN FACE OF BIG DATA which focused on humanity's new ability to collect, analyze, triangulate and visualize vast amounts of data in real time. The project, sponsored by EMC, aimed at speaking a globe conversation, resulted in a large format book, an engaging iPad app, and a TV special. sponsored by SAP. The book was delivered to 10,000 key influencers in 50 countries courtesy of FedEx. The companion PBS one hour tv special will be broadcast on February 24, 2016. In 2014 the Oscar Winning Producers of "The Kings Speech" released TRACKS based on Smolan National Geographic cover story about 27-year-old Robyn Davidson's 1,700 mile nine-month solo camel trek across the treacherous Australian Outback. In the movie Robyn Davidson was portrayed by Mia Wasikowska ("Stoker", "The Kids are Alright", "Alice in Wonderland"). Smolan was portrayed by Adam Driver, (Kylo Ren in Star Wars). The "smartphone enabled" companion book INSIDE TRACKS became one of the most successful Kickstarter books ever published. Smolan has spoken at TED, The Davos World Economic Forum, The Ford Foundation, The Wired Health Conference, TEDMED, Techonomy, DLD in Munich, IdeaCity in Canada, INK in India, The Strata Conference, etc. His TED talk "Natasha's Story: An American Homecoming" has been watched by more than a million people in 18 languages. "From Alice to Ocean" and "Passage to Vietnam" proved the storytelling powers of interactive CD-ROMs, "24 Hours in Cyberspace" took a snapshot of the infant Internet, "One Digital Day" explored the impact of the microprocessor on civilization. "AMERICA 24/7" enabled thousands of Americans to create a national family album during one ordinary week, was a NY Times bestseller and selected by Oprah Winfrey as one of her "Favorite Things." Fortune magazine describes Smolan's company, Against All Odds as "One of the 25 Coolest Companies in America."