Ray Pfortner
Questionnaire: Ray Pfortner
Membership #11211962
1) Give us a brief overview of your job, photographic, educational, volunteer, organizational board/committee skills, etc.
My job – over many years but especially now: photography education of all ages, elementary school to retirees. I teach by doing, often by leading teams in addressing a local topic or environmental issue and then showing our results in our community in fine art shows, even at our movie theatre, to raise public awareness and action. My photographer excursions also result in fine art traveling shows to do the same. I have served as an Instructor in NANPA’s High School Scholarship Program for teams of students drawn from across North America at Summits for many years.
I have specialized in the business of photography over the decades, recognizing how integral, how empowering it can be to sustaining all art, including nature photography.
My own photographic skills are based on knowing my subject matter as a biologist and naturalist and recognizing the environmental issues underlying all nature photography. I was a 2025 NANPA Showcase winner. I thoroughly enjoyed the weeklong take over of the NANPA Instagram account in March that my Showcase win gave me. I post every one of the 21 images and full annotations and thoughts on nature photographer I could, thoughts from the importance to photographing in zoos to the power of photostyling and collaborating with non-profits. Take a look to learn much more about me.
I have been collaborating and volunteering with non-profits on my island home since moving here 32 years ago from NYC – land trusts, Audubon, parks committees, historical associations and art centers. Our land trust honored me with an occasionally-given award for a decade of promoting conservation with my photography.
I have offered a good number of national webinars for NANPA and other organizations in recent years.
I am an effective team leader, a diligent team member. I am enthusiastic and passionate.
2) How long have you been an active member of NANPA?
Since the first Summit in Florida – over 25 years.
3) What Summits/Forums have you attended?
I have attended all but a very few Summits, including being at the very first Summit and all across the country from Florida to Oregon to California to New Mexico and Texas.
4) Have you served as a NANPA volunteer or worked on a NANPA committee? If so, please describe
I served as an instructor for the NANPA High School Scholarship Program at the Summits for many years.
5) What particular expertise and/or qualities would you bring to the NANPA Board?
I bring a specialty in education and communication honed over a lifetime working with all ages, elementary school to retirees, in environmental education snd photography.
I am an educator first, a nature/environmental issue photographer second. My passion for biology, nature and photography is only exceeded by my passion for empowering others and for sharing nature photography – theirs and my own – to make a difference.
6) Serving on the NANPA board does involve a time commitment. Do you feel that at this time in your life/career, you can dedicate the time to ensure NANPA’s continued growth and success?
I was asked for many years to run for the Board. I never said yes, recognizing my limited bandwidth each time and my best role being limited mostly to the Summits and the High School Scholarship Program that ran at each Summit. I finally said yes one term ago, recognizing my changing responsibilities to a freelance career in education, to teaching much more online thanks to the pandemic, reducing my time commuting from my island home. I also wanted to be part of the new NANPA-ASMP collaboration. My decision to wait was proven right. My decision to serve at this time in my career was confirmed so I am ready to take on the commitment one more time.
7) How would you use your abilities to further the NANPA Mission?
I am a biologist by training, an educator before I am even a photographer, a communicator – verbal and visual, a lover of nature and photography. I have worked in photography for over 4 decades, since making a major career pivot from government and policy to education along with nature and environmental issue photography. My focus on the Board will be professionalism, ethics and especially gathering and disseminating information. Most of all on education of all ages, but especially the many high school nature photographers in the world.
I received the NANPA Recognition Award for my role in education in our industry.
As noted earlier, I was a 2025 NANPA Showcase winner. I thoroughly enjoyed the weeklong take over of the NANPA Instagram account in March that my Showcase win gave me. I post every one of the 21 images and full annotations and thoughts on nature photographer I could, thoughts from the importance to photographing in zoos to the power of photostyling and collaborating with non-profits. Take a look to learn much more about me.
8) How do you envision NANPA’s role in the future of nature photography? How would you further that role?
NANPA has and will continue to encourage and empower nature photographers not only to do better photography but more importantly to do more with their photography – through education, association, spotlighting, advocacy. The environmental challenges of our time need all of us nature photographers. Our work has made such a difference, but so much remains to be done.
I also want to further NANPA’s pivotal role by engaging and fostering the next generation, high school-age nature photographers, as fully as NANPA once did through the national High School Scholarship Program at the Summit. As one of the instructors for the Program, I watched firsthand how seeds were planted and lives were changed. I helped engage high schoolers from Tucson, AZ in the last Summit and saw again the enormous potential for NANPA and these key nature photographers – the future.
9) Why do you want to serve on the NANPA Board of Directors?
I love nature photography and its critical role in building public awareness and shaping the future. NANPA has always been pivotal in this, empowering nature photographers. This time of collaboration with ASMP is a turning point for both organizations and marks a time of enormous potential for the field. I only finally agreed to serve – after many requests to do so – when this collaboration was launched.
By serving a second term on the Board, I want to help accomplish a fuller realization of this potential. But I especially want to do all I can to make NANPA’s engagement and involvement of high school students in all things NANPA. Having served as an Instructor for many years for the High School Scholarship Program at the Summit, I know first hand the potential of this cohort for NANPA and making. difference with our nature photography.
I would also want to see a fuller and more formal collaboration with the International League of Conservation Photographers.
