We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Terence Guider-Shaw a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Terence , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Press Photography Network was born out of both uncertainty and clarity. When I was laid off from The Herald News of Joliet as a photojournalist, I was forced to confront a reality many journalists face: traditional media jobs were disappearing, and freelance work alone felt unstable and isolating. Emotionally, it was unsettling—but it also gave me space to think differently about what a sustainable future in photography could look like.

I realized the problem wasn’t a lack of talented photographers—it was that we were all operating alone, competing for the same shrinking opportunities, without shared infrastructure or collective leverage. The logic was simple: if photographers pooled resources, relationships, and trust, we could take on larger projects, create consistency for clients, and provide real opportunities for one another.

I reached out to people I trusted—my college friend Corey Minkanic and my former editor at the Naperville Sun, James Svehla—because I knew strong storytelling required both creative and editorial leadership. Together, we built a network focused not just on photography, but on reliability, scale, and narrative integrity.

What excited me most was realizing we weren’t just creating jobs—we were solving a gap in the industry. Clients needed dependable, high-quality visual storytelling at scale, and photographers needed community, structure, and fair access to meaningful work. When organizations like hospitals, colleges, and corporations began to trust us—and especially when international energy companies brought us in for aerial photography—I knew the model worked.

Press Photography Network wasn’t just a business idea; it was a response to a broken system, and a way to build something collaborative, resilient, and future-focused.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My photography journey began at the age of five, when my mother bought me a Kodak film camera set. I was instantly fascinated by the ability to freeze moments in time. That curiosity came with an early lesson—when a disposable external flash exploded near my face and burned off my eyebrows—but it didn’t scare me away. The following year, my mother gave me a video camera, and I became obsessed with storytelling through motion, filming my cousins and experimenting with narrative before I even knew what that meant.

As I grew older, photography became more than a creative outlet—it became a way to understand life. My younger brother was born with serious health challenges, and as a child, I struggled to process what his future might look like. It wasn’t until I began photographing him that I could truly see and accept his story. Through images, I found empathy, meaning, and purpose. That experience shaped how I approach my work to this day: photography as a tool for understanding humanity, not just documenting it.

While studying photography in college, I shared those images publicly and was unexpectedly approached by industry professionals. That moment marked the beginning of my career as a freelance photographer in the Chicago area, eventually leading to staff photojournalism and then to founding Press Photography Network.

Today, I am a professional photographer, media manager, and founder of Press Photography Network—a full-service visual storytelling organization. We provide photography, video, aerial imagery, and multimedia coverage for hospitals, universities, corporations, nonprofits, and international energy companies. Our clients come to us when they need reliable, high-level visual storytelling at scale—often for complex, sensitive, or high-stakes environments.

What sets us apart is our network-based model and our journalistic foundation. We don’t just deliver images—we build trust, consistency, and narrative clarity across large projects and multiple locations. Because we operate as a collaborative team rather than isolated freelancers, we solve problems of coverage gaps, tight timelines, and storytelling cohesion that many organizations struggle with.

What I’m most proud of is building a company that creates opportunity for other photographers while maintaining integrity in the work. Press Photography Network exists to elevate both the client’s story and the artist behind the camera. I want potential clients and followers to know that our work is rooted in empathy, professionalism, and a deep respect for the human stories we’re entrusted to tell.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

From 2014 to 2021, I had one of the most exhilarating contracts imaginable: I was an aerial photographer for energy companies. Every week, I’d soar through the skies, capturing stunning photos and collecting critical data. The pay was great, but there was a reason for that—the job came with significant risks. Over the years, I faced my fair share of close calls: a window blowing out on a freezing 20-degree day, the oil light flickering on mid-flight, forcing us to abort missions and rush back to safety. But nothing could have prepared me for February 27, 2020—the day that changed everything.

It started like any other workday. My pilot, Jake, was at the helm, calm and focused as always. I was in the back, setting up my gear, mentally preparing for the shoot. Then, the unthinkable happened. A loud, insistent beep pierced the air: “Beep, Beep, Beep.” Suddenly, the rotors fell silent. The once-familiar hum of the helicopter was gone, replaced by an eerie quiet. If you’ve ever spent time around pilots, you know they’re masters of composure. But even Jake’s stoic demeanor couldn’t mask the gravity of the situation. As the helicopter began to plummet from 1,500 feet, I panicked. Jake’s response was blunt but understandable: “Shut up.”

We were falling fast, and I was certain we were about to crash into a dense forest below. Miraculously, Jake managed to steer us away from the trees. But our relief was short-lived. On the other side of the forest was a frozen retention pond. I can’t swim, and my mind raced with the horrifying thought of plunging into icy water. As the ground rushed toward us, I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to witness my own death.

The impact was brutal. My body clenched so tightly that the force of the landing sent shockwaves of pain through me. When I opened my eyes, everything was white. For five agonizing seconds, I couldn’t see anything but that blinding whiteness. It wasn’t until later that I realized why: a blizzard had swept through the area earlier that week, leaving the field covered in a pristine, untouched blanket of snow. As my vision cleared, I saw it: a scoreboard. We had landed in a little league baseball field in Stickney, Illinois. Jake and I locked eyes, and in that moment, we both screamed, “We’re alive!” We high-fived, laughed, and celebrated like we’d just won the World Series. Against all odds, we had survived.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I built my reputation by intentionally connecting across generations and industries and by never limiting myself to a single room or perspective. Early on, I realized that staying visible only within one niche or peer group creates blind spots. Instead, I made a point to learn from veteran professionals, collaborate with emerging talent, and adapt to how different industries communicate and operate.

By moving between journalism, corporate environments, healthcare, education, and energy, I developed an ability to translate complex stories for very different audiences. That flexibility—and the trust that came with it—helped my work travel further than a single market or medium. People began to see me not just as a photographer, but as someone who could understand their world, respect their constraints, and tell their story accurately.

Never staying in one room has allowed me to build long-term relationships, anticipate client needs, and remain relevant as the industry continues to evolve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pressphotographynetwork.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pressphotographynetwork?igsh=MWQ4dHQ4Znl2a2hqdA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terence-guider-shaw-827a574?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Other: www.tguiderphoto.com

  Blog:

  https://tguiderphoto.com/blog-lange

Image Credits

Terence Guider-Shaw