Place-Based Projects

Place-Centered Competencies

When you collaborate with me you gain 17 years of experience in applied research and planning, 16 years of experience as a professional writer and photographer, and a thorough grounding in Geography (MS, Penn State). You will be getting not three competencies, however, but one: selling your place-based projects, dramatically and effectively, to your customers.

I am a professional geographer; in my Master of Science studies I specialized in landscape analysis and geographic statistics. I am also skilled with computers. For instance, I wrote my own content management program to produce my guidebooks — and this web site. As you might expect, I have expertise in digital imagery, most especially delivering press-ready photos; my digitized images have appeared on book covers from Harcourt, Fodors, WW Norton, and Canada's Firefly Press.

In short, I will apply your goals and your needs when you go searching for the right place, and then tell its story in words and pictures, to your clients and customers.

Read my work history.

Some of my books and articles:

Cover of the magazine, "British Heritage" (May 2004), featuring cover photo and story by Jim Hargan, "Leeds: Castle of Queens". My travel articles include more than 70 photo-text packages on travel in England, Scotland, and Wales. In the process, I've gathered a library of 7,000 images of Britain.
More about travel articles 

Cover of the book,Compass America's North Carolina (3rd Ed) by Shiela Turnage with photos by Jim Hargan; published by Compass American (Fodors), 2002. I supplied the cover and 150 interior images in this title for Fodor's prestige guide series. It's now in its fifth edition.

 

Cover of the book, The Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains: An Explorers Guide, 2nd Edition, text and photos by Jim Hargan; published by Countryman Press (WW Norton), Apr 2005. I wrote and photographed this 200,000 word guide book in 2000, creating custom software to manage the complex organization. It's now in its third edition.

Cover of the magazine, Our State (Jan 1997), featuring cover photo of a potter's studio by Jim Hargan. I've sold thousands of photos to magazines, newspapers, and books, including the New York Times and National Geographic Adventure Magazine. This cover demonstrates my ambient light interiors.