Michael Pugh was born in 1950 and brought up in rural Indiana. Arriving in Evansville in 1968, Pugh’s high school, Harrison HS offered a black and white photography class. After seeing his first print come up in the lab, Pugh new what he wanted to do.

While attending Harrison the young photographers work was recognize by Randy Dieter, Chief photographer for The Evansville Sunday Courier and Press. Dieter offered Pugh an internship in the photography department and soon after, his first photograph appeared in print. Pugh graduated from Harrison and was accepted into the University of Southern Indiana where he studied art and communications. Under Dieter’s direction, the young photographer traveled to Ohio in 1972 and landed his first job as a newspaper lab technician at The Lorain Journal in Lorain, Ohio. Pugh was soon promoted to staff photographer and a short time later was named as a runner-up to Ohio Photographer of the Year.

United Press International began to recognize the photographer’s work and offered a staff position to Pugh in Atlanta’s Southern Division headquarters in 1974.
During his 9-years with UPI, Pugh covered major news and sporting events throughout the US, Mexico and Canada. Pugh’s images from these events were transmitted and published worldwide. Pugh ‘s stunning photograph of the first launch of the space shuttle “Columbia” clearing launch pad 39A fronted newspapers worldwide on April 13th 1981.

By 1983, Pugh turned his talents as a photographer and his skills in the transmission of photography to the corporate field after realizing a need for good journalist corporate photography that could be transmitted anywhere in the world. He launched his own business, Michael Pugh Photography. With the use of cameras, computers, wireless and satellite technology, Pugh had the capability to shoot, edit and transmit a color photograph anywhere in the world within a few minutes of the photograph being made.
Pugh’s corporate assignments have been just as diverse as his UPI wire assignments. His coverage of 9-Olympic Games includes Montreal, Calgary, Albertville, Barcelona, Lillehammer, Atlanta, Sydney, Nagano and Salt Lake City. He has the rare distention of photographing 5-Olympic Torch Relays worldwide. Pugh photographed portions of the Barcelona, Lillehammer, and Nagano relays. The highlight was his fourth in which he accompanied Mr. Billy Payne, president, The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games to Olympia, Greece to photograph the lighting of the Olympic Flame for the XXVI Olympiad. His photographic coverage of the entire 84-days of the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay across the US resulted in publication of a book containing over two hundred of his photographs. The Coca-Cola Company published the book, “Reflections of the Flame”.
Adding to the list of Olympic Torch Relay’s, Pugh also photographed the 65-day Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Torch Relay in 2002 for Coca-Cola and General Motors.

Pugh’s corporate assignments have required him to travel extensively through out the world. His assignments in India, Norway, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Italy, Greece and the former USSR all resulted in a business photograph being made and transmitted for publication in newspapers around the world.
He has also had the privilege of photographing 6-US Presidents during private and public ceremonies in Washington and Atlanta. He was flown to South Africa for a 15-minute photo-op with President Nelson Mandela and an Atlanta high-ranking executive soon after President Mandela took office.

Michael Pugh has received numerous awards from organizations such as United Press International, The Associated Press, Atlanta Press Photographers Assn. Ohio News Photographers Assn. the NFL, Ilford Inc. He has been named Georgia Photographer of the Year 3-times. In 1988, Pugh received the Special Recognition Award for outstanding achievements in career presented by Dr. David Rice, President, and The University of Southern Indiana.

Pugh married his high school sweetheart, Linda and between them they have 4 children. The couple lives along the shores of Lake Lanier outside of Atlanta.

Photographers Statement

“In my 34-years of making photographs, I have witnessed and photographed many wonderful moments all over the world, many historical in nature. I have found through the length of those years, that life’s most important moments also happen in our own back yards. I have been blessed in seeing and photographing both.” Michael Pugh