Bio

Ric Savid was born in New York City in 1954. He earned a BA from Rollins College in 1976, then served in the U.S. Peace Corps in the Philippines and later earned a master’s in journalism from Columbia University. He worked as a police reporter for the former St. Petersburg Times while cleaning boats underwater to support his wife and two children  before quitting the paper to operate his own hauling and demolition business for 20 years in Pinellas County, Florida.   In 2010, Savid became a registered nurse specializing in intravenous home infusions.   

Savid has had no formal art training with the exception of a photography class with St. Petersburg College Professor Barton Gilmore, who inspired him  to pursue his passion.  Savid credits any sense of artistic composition in his work to the visually rich environment of his childhood:  Edith Savid, a commercial art director in Manhattan, and his sister Carol - a known glass artist living in New Mexico  - constantly critiqued each other's sketches and paintings and the work of other artists that covered the walls of the family's Long Island home. 

Savid believes failure is the best teacher.  He has spent thousands of hours printing black and white images in the darkroom.  The slow analog processes of the darkroom combined with his  perfectionism have taught him to see light and hone his craft.  He says he will always consider himself an amateur, a student who is learning the craft.  Asked in a recent interview what his best photograph was, he replied:  "I haven't taken it  yet.  That's the problem."    

Savid has taught darkroom photography at the Morean Arts Center and for the Pinellas County Juvenile Welfare Board.  His work has appeared in American Photo, Aperture, Black and White,  Focus Magazine, Il Terzo Occhio and PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris. He was the 2012 Tampa photo laureate, commissioned to produce  portraits depicting the diversity of the city's inhabitants. 

Savid still works part time as an RN, doing in home IV infusions and Hospice care.  He lives with his wife in Clearwater, Florida.