“To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.”
— Henri Cartier-Bresson
Geoff Hansen has been a photographer since he was 13 years old, growing up in South Dakota. He studied photojournalism at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and has been photo editor and page designer at the Valley News in Lebanon, N.H., since 1998.
His approach to his work is marked by respect for the subject, gentle humor and letting events play out naturally in time. He doesn’t stage or pose pictures but uses a photojournalist’s techniques and instincts to capture the joy, drama and unpredictability of life. “It’s a combination of emotion and light, and trying to tell a story in a single moment,” Geoff says.
His photographs have been awarded first place by the New England Associated Press, and have been published in Newsweek, USA Today, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Vermont Life and Farm & Ranch Living Magazine. His photography has appeared in 14 books, and he has been the lead photographer on ten books, including My Life as a Dog, the best-selling Living with Chickens, Harvest: A Year in the Life of an Organic Farm, Barbie Unbound, and most recently, The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar. His photographs have also been exhibited throughout Vermont, including a one-person show at the Agency of Agriculture in Montpelier, Vermont.
Geoff has had the privilege of photographing more than 200 weddings throughout New England since 1994. He is also a webmaster, and has designed and maintained over two dozen websites, including such mystery writers as Sarah Strohmeyer, Sarah Stewart Taylor, Entertainment Weekly columnist and author of Pictures at a Revolution Mark Harris, playwright Deborah Salem Smith, and doctor and author Christine Montross, among others.
Using photography to map and foster community is also a part of Geoff’s work. He has organized A Day in the Life exhibitions in towns around Vermont.
FULL RESUME
GEOFF HANSEN’S RESUME
WORK EXPERIENCE
Valley News – West Lebanon, N.H.
Photo Editor (11/98-present)
In charge of three photographers, responsible for planning and implementing the visual report for news, feature and special sections of the 14,000 circ. daily.
Coordinate coverage with editors and reporters, involved with projects, edit staff and wire photography and attend news meetings for planning and budgeting photographs, graphics and illustrations.
In addition to designing centerpiece news features, layout the daily front page and at least two weekly photo pages. Research and write capital expenditure requests and budget proposals. Create and download spot news graphics.
A “super user” for two Content Management Systems — DTI in 2013 and Miles-33 in 2015. Involved with training others in the newsroom.
Acting Assignment Editor (12/97-5/98, 12/98-10/99)
Coordinator of coverage between ten reporters and four photographers. Responsible for planning the day’s news budget, assigning stories and giving advice to writers through the reporting process. Meet with other editors to decide how the readership is best served in news coverage.
Chief Photographer (11/94-10/98)
Responsible for hiring, training, scheduling and motivating two full-time staff photographers and a year-round intern.
Staff Photographer (9/89-11/94)
On a three-person staff, responsible for all areas of newspaper photo coverage. Switched to C-41 color with morning publication in April 1993.
The Patriot Ledger – Quincy, Mass.
Staff Photographer Intern (6/89-9/89)
Responsible for daily assignments at the 90,000 circ. p.m. daily.
Kalamazoo Gazette – Kalamazoo, Mich.
Staff Photographer Intern (6/87-9/87)
Photography of daily assignments at the 63,000 circ. p.m. daily.
The Minnesota Daily – Minneapolis, Minn.
Photo Editor (4/88-3/89)
Responsible for shaping photographic coverage with newsroom staff. Picture edit twice weekly, hire and train photographers on the twelve person staff, draft budget requests and coordinate major photo equipment purchases for the university’s student-run 45,000 circ. daily. Worked as Assistant Photo Editor (4/87-3/88) and Staff Photographer (10/85-5/89).
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Book work
• The Joy of Keeping Chickens by Jennifer Megyesi, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. Skyhorse Publishing, Feb. 2009 and April 2015 (2nd edition)
• The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar by Jennifer Megyesi, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. Skyhorse Publishing, Aug. 2010
• Quilting VISUAL Quick Tips by Sonja Hakala, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. Wiley Publishing, Jan. 2009
• Living with Pigs by Chuck Wooster, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. The Lyons Press, June 2008
• Teach Yourself VISUALLY Quilting by Sonja Hakala, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. Wiley Publishing, Nov. 2007
• Cover photograph for Travels with My Chicken by Martin Gurdon. The Lyons Press, Dec. 2005
• Cover photograph for Hen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance by Martin Gurdon. The Lyons Press, June 2005
• Living with Sheep by Chuck Wooster with photographs by Geoff Hansen. The Lyons Press, May 2005
• Harvest: A Year in the Life of an Organic Farm by Nicola Smith, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. The Lyons Press, Nov. 2004
• Contract photographer for America 24/7. DK Publishing, Nov. 2003
• Photographs in The Horse in Winter by Susan McBane. The Lyons Press, Aug. 2003
• Photography in Keep Chickens! by Barbara Kilarski. Storey Publishing, June 2003
• Photographs in In Harmony with Your Horse by Clare Ablinson. The Lyons Press, July 2003
• Living with Chickens by Jay Rossier, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. The Lyons Press, June 2002
• Photographer and author of My Life As A Dog. Andrews McMeel Publishing, Oct. 1999
• Barbie Unbound by Sarah Strohmeyer, with photographs by Geoff Hansen. New Victoria Publishers, Oct. 1997
Freelance work
Web site designer — go to websites.geoffhansen.com to see samples, 1/01-present
Getty Images contributor, 01/04-present
iPhoto.ca contributor, 11/01-06/03
Newsmakers contributor, 3/00-9/00
Wedding photographer, 8/94-present
Impact Visuals contributor, 11/96-4/01
Associated Press, N.H. and Vt. bureaus, 9/89-present
Published in The Advocate, Boston Globe, Brill’s Content, Chronicle of Higher Education, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Eating Well, Farm & Ranch Living, Newsday, Newsweek, New York Times, Old Farmer’s Almanac, USA Today and Vermont Life
Exhibitions
Tunbridge: Then & Now
With the Tunbridge Historical Society’s Euclid Farnham
Tunbridge Public Library, Tunbridge, Vt., 11/14-1/15
Our Town: A Snapshot of Tunbridge Residents in 2011
With photographer Laura DeCapua
Tunbridge Public Library, Tunbridge, Vt., 1/12-3/12
A Day in the Life of Strafford
Group show and fundraiser by eighteen photographers
Strafford Post Office, Strafford, Vt., 11/08-12/08
All Around the Barnyard
Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems, South Royalton, Vt., 11/13-present
Windsor County State’s Attorney offices, White River Junction, Vt., 2/07-7/13
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Montpelier, Vt., 7/07-12/07
A Day in the Life of Tunbridge
Group show and fundraiser by eighteen photographers
Tunbridge Public Library, Tunbridge, Vt., 9/07-10/07
Aperture: Photography 2005
Group show of six photographers
Cooler Gallery, White River Junction, Vt., 4/05-5/05
Geoff Hansen: On (And Off) The Farm
Lyme Library, Lyme, N.H., 1/04-2/04
Tunbridge Public Library, Tunbridge, Vt., 4/03-6/03
Beasts of Burden: A photographic exhibition
of oxen and those who care for them
Logic Associates, Wilder, Vt., 6/99-9/99
Quechee Public Library, Quechee, Vt., 9/99-2/00
Windsor County State’s Attorney offices, White River Junction, Vt., 2/00-1/03
Volunteer work
Parent volunteer, Sharon Academy, 9/15-present
Webmaster, Tunbridge Church, 7/12-present
Parent volunteer, Tunbridge Central School, 9/05-present
Art Space publicist, Tunbridge Public Library, 9/05-present
Volunteer teacher, Orange Windsor Supervisor Union’s Arts Day, 2012-14
Coordinator, A Day in the Life of Strafford, 6/08-12/08
Coordinator, A Day in the Life of Tunbridge, 5/07-10/07
Publicist, NHPA’s First In the Nation exhibit, 11/99
Lecturer and portfolio critic at the NPPA National Convention, 6/98
NHPA Pictures of the Year Chair, 12/94-4/00
NPPA Region 1 Clip Contest Chair, 12/92-12/94
NHPA Secretary, 3/92-4/93
NHPA Vice-president, 3/91-2/92
EDUCATION
Visual communication, University of Minnesota
Poynter Institute Leadership Development Program participant, 12/99
Kalish Picture Editing Workshop participant, 6/99
Missouri Workshop participant, 10/95
AWARDS AND ASSOCIATIONS
Daniel ‘Rudi’ Ruddell Paying It Forward Award, Tunbridge Central School, 2014-15
Etta B. Giles Award, Outstanding Volunteer Contribution, Tunbridge Central School, 2015
First place, informational graphic, New England Associated Press, 2010
First place, sports feature, New England Associated Press, 1996
First place, feature, New England Associated Press, 1994
First place, portrait, New England Associated Press, 1994
First place, spot news, NHPA Pictures of the Year, 1992
First place, sports, NPPA National Clip Contest, October 1992
Second place, NHPA Photographer of the Year, 1990
First place, spot news, New England Associated Press, 1989
Award of Excellence, spot news, College Photographer of the Year, 1988
National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), 1986-present
New Hampshire Photojournalists Association (NHPA), 1989-2001
Minnesota News Photographers Association (MNPA), 1986-1991
Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA), 2004-present
