The Artists

Arnold "Arnie" Zann fell in love with photography when he got his first darkroom kit at age 11 and knew from that point that he wanted to be a photographer for LIFE.

In 1968, Arnie was the first college-educated photographer to be hired by the Chicago-American, then one of the four major newspapers in the city. While at the paper, he continued his education, taking graduate classes at the Bauhaus School — then called the Institute of Design — at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Also while at the paper, he started freelancing for LIFE and Time as well as the prestigious Black Star photo agency with which he worked from 1968-1995.

After two years, Arnie left the paper and went full-time with Black Star, shooting for LIFE, Time, Paris Match, and almost every major magazine in the world.

His award-winning work is in many private and museum collections including the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. He has given numerous workshops and seminars throughout his long career traveling the world for editorial and Fortune 500 clients.

Arnie's knowledge of the zone system and dramatic lighting brings strength to his photographs. He also has an uncanny eye for what will become striking and effective photographs.

Margo Taussig Pinkerton, aka The Barefoot Contessa, got her first camera at age eight and has been photographing and traveling with a passion ever since. In the early 80s, she started Barefoot Contessa Adventures — the precursor to Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures — in which she led adventure trips, including canoe trips down National Wild and Scenic Rivers north of the Arctic Circle. Those trips always had an element of photography instruction, as her clients wanted to take home stunning memories of what was for most a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

After an eclectic career that ranged from research medicine to publishing, from urban planning to being an EMT, she turned to photography full time in 1982, starting out primarily as a stock photographer. As she quickly garnered calendar and magazine covers as well as "double truck" spreads, her work was sought for outdoor and travel clients, both for corporate and advertising use.

Margo’s work has appeared in such international journals as National Geographic Traveler, GEO, Wooden Boat Magazine, and Vogue along with a plethora of other magazines, coffee-table books, and educational publications. Her photographs have also appeared in museums and galleries across the country. With participation in solo and juried shows numbering close to 60, her work is in private, museum, and library collections around the world.

In addition to the above, Margo has given numerous photo, copyright, and business lectures over the decades of her working career. Growing up in an artistic family that exposed her to the great museums and painters of the world has given Margo a unique insight into composition and the quality of light. As she so often says, “I cannot not do photography!”