ich Jackson, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native now resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in the midst of the fashion scene. His hands-on approach to fashion photography is evident in his magnificent photos. He prides himself on creating the fantasy from start to finish. The model shows up and Rich makes them look fabulous with an intense focus on wardrobe, hair, makeup and location. He provides the direction, theme and complete atmosphere for the content of the photo shoot. His personal attention to detail is what makes him one of the best in his field.

Although he started out in the field of fine arts, he became a renowned fashion photographer. In the early to mid 80's during a period when he was painting heavily, he eventually segued into shooting some fashion from time to time which coincided with the emergence of Elle Magazine. That was the first fashion magazine he shot. He loved Elle Magazine because he liked the big square formatted pages with its colorful in-your-face grainy photos. Rich’s interest in models was piqued at that point. He started learning about models such as Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangilsta and others. Rich approaches his shoots with a sense of purpose and tremendous attention to detail. Once he has a designer he then figures out what story he would like to tell. He approaches each shoot as if he is the office manager because he feels a photographer is essentially managing people. From wardrobe to models, to hair and makeup, each component must work in harmony with the others. Rich feels that once you have the clothes and models, one of the more important aspects of the shoot is hair and makeup. He feels the number one thing is the wardrobe; the second most important thing is the team which includes a stylist. The stylist is imperative to a successful shoot to make sure all of the elements jive with the clothes. The last but not least element is location. But he stresses the importance of having a great team. He conceptualizes the entire shoot from beginning to end.
He attends fashion shows mainly to network with hair and makeup people and stylists. Although he enjoys shooting sports, including six Super Bowls, several NBA, MLB, hockey games and professional tennis matches and concerts he prefers shooting fashion because he finds it to be more fun and more hands on. Because of his expertise he was commissioned to shoot the cover of Chicago Fashion Magazine, as well as a Columbian magazine. He is also the fashion director of television show, Inside Couture which takes an in depth look into the fashion industry and includes interviews with famous fashion designers, models and industry insiders.