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COMPANY PROFILE: Creating an image for Alaska’s oil and gas industry Judy Patrick’s photographs provide a rich record of pioneering achievements and responsible development Alan Bailey Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
There's nothing like a good picture for showing what really goes on in Alaska's oil and gas industry — that's a central theme that motivates Judy Patrick, an acclaimed photographer of the Alaska industrial scene. Patrick especially revels in the pioneering aspects of oil and gas development and has traveled across the state in her quest to capture on film everything from exploration drilling to the huge development projects on the North Slope.
"I suppose if I would have been born in a different era, I would have been in a covered wagon headed west," Patrick told Petroleum News.
She sees herself in the tradition of American documentary photography — her mission is to document industry in the same way that pioneering photographers of the past captured various aspects of American life.
However, she also sees an important role for photography in communicating messages about responsible oil and gas development in Alaska — she hopes her photos will show people just how much care companies take of Alaska's sensitive environment.
"The other thing that is really, really important to me is documenting what all the companies on the North Slope are doing ... and what a good job they're doing, because, of course, that message isn't being delivered to the Lower 48," Patrick said. Started at the age of 12 Patrick's photographic career fulfills a dream that began at an early age, when she became the staff photographer for the yearbook at her junior high school.
"In photography, I actually got started when I was 12 years old," she said. "I decided I wanted to be a photographer and I never wavered. I believe that my talent is a gift from God, otherwise I have no idea how I ever would have become interested in photography since I had virtually no exposure to it as a child."
Her growing interest in photography led her to take classes at a local junior college. From there she went on to study photography at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and the University of Arizona Tucson.
She originally came to Alaska to work on a fishing boat for the summer season.
"I came to Alaska in '81, just to spend the summer," she said.
However, she met her future husband while working on the boat. She opted for married life in Wasilla, where she has lived ever since. She became the staff photographer for the Frontiersman newspaper in Wasilla in 1982.
In 1984 she left the Frontiersman to establish her own photographic business, doing fine art black-and-white photography, as well as wedding photography and family portraits. Industrial photography starts in Tucson In the winter of 1986/87, during the oil slump in Alaska, she was hired to photograph the Tucson Aqueduct Project where her husband was working. Her work on this huge construction project launched her into industrial photography.
"That was where I wanted to go anyway — industrial photography," Patrick said.
After returning to Alaska, she started working for industrial customers. She first worked on the North Slope in 1989, shooting photographs for construction and support companies.
"I had a very solid ... business, but it wasn't totally full time," Patrick said. With young children to bring up, part-time work suited her at that time. Petroleum News fuels career Patrick's next breakthrough came in 1995, when she started working for Petroleum News. Her work for the newspaper brought her many contacts in the oil industry.
"I started taking pictures for Petroleum News and also Mining News, and they hired me as a contract photographer right from the beginning," Patrick said. "So it was mostly through that that I managed to gain contacts in the industry."
Patrick's foray into the oil industry closely matched her aspirations as a photographer.
"My goal was always to do oil — that was my passion," she said. "I've always been very keen on resource development ... but I never seemed to be able to get to the right people."
Since 1996, Patrick has focused almost exclusively on the oil industry. Her business has expanded from a small, part-time operation to a busy industrial photography service. Diversification into graphic design Recently, Patrick has supplemented her photography services with a graphic design business called “Salt + Light Creative.”
"I started it two years ago because I was already doing a lot of graphic design work through Judy Patrick Photography and was hiring designers on contract," she said.
Patrick saw a business opportunity to prepare competitively priced brochures, logos and advertisements. So she bought an existing graphic design business and hired a full-time graphic designer.
"He's very busy," Patrick said. "In fact, I think we're going to have to put on another designer." Big projects are a favorite In her photography, Patrick particularly likes documenting large projects. She gains tremendous satisfaction from following a project from start to finish — it's all part of her fascination with pioneering endeavors.
"I love big projects ... because I love being on a mission, and I think that's why I like what I do so much," Patrick said. "My clients are always faced with such extreme challenges."
For example, Patrick has photographed such behemoths as the Miscible Injection Expansion — MIX — project for ARCO, the Northstar project for BP and the Osprey platform project for Forest Oil. Each of these projects involved unique challenges and large-scale engineering.
Patrick remembers witnessing the construction of Northstar — from the initial digging out of the ice for the placement of the gravel to the completion of the gravel island and the sealift of the huge production modules.
"It was such a massive undertaking," Patrick said. "It was all very impressive."
She also recalls the construction and installation of the Osprey platform. Forcenergy (now Forest Oil) assembled the platform at Port Graham and then placed it in Cook Inlet — all against a background of business problems at the company.
"The ingenuity of the people that were part of that project ... they just stuck it out, and now look at the reward," Patrick said. Working directly for the client Whatever project she is documenting, Patrick finds it advantageous to work directly for her clients rather than working for an agency representing the client.
“Client-direct" contracting enables a small company with a limited budget to commission photographs without the expense of working through a large advertising agency, she said. That approach has worked well recently with new independent oil companies arriving in Alaska.
"A lot of people are complaining this year because there's no work, and I can hardly keep up," Patrick said.
And Patrick thoroughly enjoys working with her clients.
"I really love my clients," she said.
However, Patrick's success has not led to complacency — photography is a very competitive business.
"I have to work extra hard to keep my clients happy and do a good job," Patrick said. "So I just try not to get complacent and remember that I am in an extremely competitive field ... it's just being single-mindedly focused on something and working really hard "
Perhaps Patrick's sense of mission and her enthusiasm about her subject matter also keep her at the forefront of her profession. She just loves making images of the oil and gas industry.
"All my photos are honest ... I've been called an ambassador for that reason," Patrick said. "For me it's more than taking pictures, it's about delivering the message."
Editor's note: Alan Bailey owns Badger Productions in Anchorage, Alaska.
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