Gage Skidmore
Gage Skidmore is an American photographer and Creative Commons contributor. He is known for photographing American public figures, most commonly politicians and Hollywood actors. His work has been used by publications including The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Atlantic, the Associated Press, and NPR.
Early life
Skidmore was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 16, 1993. He attended high school there and later moved to Arizona, where he joined Glendale Community College in Glendale and Arizona State University in Phoenix., he continues to reside in Phoenix.Photography career
Skidmore began taking photographs in March 2009 at San Diego Comic-Con. The photographer gained an interest in attending events attended by Rand Paul during the 2010 Kentucky Senate election such as CPAC and the Values Voter Summit due to his support for Rand Paul's father Ron during his 2008 bid for president. He would upload photographs of attendees to his Flickr account under a Creative Commons license. During Ron Paul's 2012 presidential bid, Skidmore took a gap year to photograph Paul and several other prominent Republicans.Skidmore is one of the most widely published political photographers in the United States. During the 2016 presidential election, his photographs were used by The Atlantic, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and NPR, as well as on the official website of presidential candidate Donald Trump. Priceonomics reported in 2016 that Skidmore has attended Comic-Con every year where he took photographs of Hollywood celebrities such as Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, Samuel L. Jackson, Angelina Jolie, and Bruce Willis.
It was estimated in 2012 that his photographs have been reposted over 1 million times. A Priceonomics study showed that as of 2016, he has posted nearly 40,000 photographs of presidential candidates and celebrities to Flickr since 2010 with his Flickr account being linked to over 30 million times. Vice News described Skidmore as "one of the most prolific Creative Commons photographers out there" with photographs used by every major outlet. In addition to his Creative Commons work, Skidmore has been commissioned as a photographer by National School Choice Week, Western Journalism, the Conservative Review, and Reason magazine.