Page 8 - Lightroom Magazine Issue 27

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Our Industry Has Lost One of Its Best and Brightest, and I lost a Very Dear Friend
by Scott Kelby
My heart sank when I heard the news that my dear friend and colleague Jim DiVitale had passed away on December 13, 2016, after a long tough battle with cancer. Jim was one of the brightest, most passionate, most helpful photographers on the planet—a working commercial photographer, dedicated educator, and just one of the nicest, most down-to-earth guys you’d ever want to meet. Respected and admired by his peers, and loved by his students around the world. We have lost one of the greats.
There will be so much written about Jimmy’s career, and his countless contributions to photography, education, and the photography industry as a whole, and what a pioneer he was in leading the transition from film to digital, and introducing photographers to Photoshop. But here I want to share some very personal stories of how Jim directly impacted my career, and my life, and how Jim wound up touching so many people without even realizing it. It’s a story of how he planted seeds
that grew into mighty oaks in my life and my company’s history, and it’s a story that gives you some insight into the extraordinary person behind the gifted photographer and educator Jim truly was.
I’ll always remember the day I first met Jim...
It was in Atlanta, at the Georgia World Congress Center, attending a trade show held by “The Printing Industry of the South.” My business partner Jim Workman and I had
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My dear friend, colleague, and mentor Jim DiVitale in a portrait I made backstage at Photoshop World for a personal project I called “Sessions”—it was a series of portraits of famous photographers who were also musicians (a pair of drumsticks in Jimmy’s hands).
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