Growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, Rich Clarkson started his sports photography career early as a senior in high school by taking pictures of the nearby University of Kansas for the town's daily newspapers in 1952.  The gig eventually saw Clarkson follow the Jayhawks all the way to the Final Four that year.  That was the first of more than 50 years of Clarkson shooting pictures at the NCAA basketball championships.

A Final Four picture of UCLA's Walt Hazzard weaving his way through Duke defenders in the 1964 title game became Clarkson's first of more than 50 Sports Illustrated cover shots.  Through the journeys, Clarkson has has photographed several Super Bowls, nine Olympiads, and innumerable other events. 
 

Hoop Historian Steve Bennett (left) welcomes Rich Clarkson
to the 2007 Hoop Historians Annual Meeting
 

National Geographic hired Clarkson in the mid-1980s as its director of photography. Among photo jobs, many consider this the world’s sweetest plum, but Clarkson found himself bogged down with managerial duties and isolated from most hands-on involvement with picture-taking and photographers.

In 1989, Rich Clarkson was organizer-administrator for Brian Lanker's "I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America," which included both a book and two traveling exhibitions. It has become the second best-selling picture book in American publishing history.

Some of Clarkson's most memorable pictures include a chronicle of history including the 1966 Texas Western upset of Kentucky and the 1972 terrorist attacks at the Munich Olympics.  Once of Clarkson's unforgettable pictures was a Time cover shot of Mark Spitz in the Olympics.  To get the perfect shot Clarkson borrowed a warm-up suit so he could sneak on the deck looking like an American coach.  "No one seemed to notice." said Clarkson.  And one shutter snap later, history was recorded forever.