Welcome to the website for Rich Messina photography. As  a professional photographer, videographer, photo editor, and senior manager of visuals, I have won numerous national and regional awards for documentary photography, videography, design and video and photo editing, and I am honored to have worked in the daily news environment of The Hartford Courant during a time when we dominated news photography photo editing and newspaper design. As an editor and photojournalist I was honored to be invited to lecture at the University of Connecticut and other educational institutions.  I was part of an extraordinary photography staff, winning international awards for best use of visuals, and nominated by my news organization for Pulitzer award for impactful journalism.

As an entrepreneur, I have been an early adapter of technologies that have disrupted the media space. The company I co-founded was honored with a substantial six-figure Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new ways for independent creatives to market their work and collaborate online. I have built and hosted many rich-media websites for professional creatives, non-profits and commercial clients.

CORE VALUES AND BELIEFS

Strive to innovate.

In any business it is vital to evolve by embracing new technology while holding onto the values and beliefs that created your value proposition. This can be daunting and costly, but there are strategic and smart ways to leverage new tools, processes and platforms for the benefit of both the user and the business. My background studies in computer science, and my innate curiosity, taught me not to fear new tech, but to adapt it. Throughout my career, I’ve been the first guy that learns how to do the ‘new thing’ — and then share my knowledge to teach or train others.

Bring an entrepreneurial approach and experimental spirit.

I believe there is always room for improvement and for learning new ways to solve problems and add value. I like to understand the goal, and continue to iterate solutions in order to reach or surpass it.

Collaborate and brainstorm to include everybody’s perspective and best ideas.

Everyone has something unique and interesting to contribute to the problem-solving process, and all voices should be respected. Brainstorming leads to ideas. Ideas build the vision. Then executing in an agile way toward a hard deadline makes it real. It’s always exhilarating and it sometimes even succeeds!

Ethics and integrity are the foundation of all value. Tell the truth. 

Thanks you for stopping by Richard Messina Photography | Video | Design