About Michael Belk
Michael Belk’s photography has appeared in most fashion publications including Vogue, Elle, GQ and Vanity Fair. His clients, over 30 years, have included Nautica, J.Crew, Talbot’s and Russell Athletic Corporation.
Combining his gift for photography with a natural sense for sales and a little marketing savvy, Michael has created advertising campaigns for many well-known names in the clothing industry. He has been the man behind the camera, the creative director and the account executive for his own fashion-advertising agency, Michael Belk & Company. It has been an intense, but fun career for him – not as much about work as about doing something he loved while traveling the world, working with many of the great models and crews in the industry.
A self-taught photographer who never picked-up a camera until he was 20, Michael grew up in Central Florida. Working in retail clothing in high school and college, he planned a career in the fashion industry when photography snagged his soul. Still, after college, Michael worked as a sales executive for Gant, a popular men’s clothing line in the ’60s and 70s.
To use as a visual aid when presenting the line of products to his retail clients, Michaelbegan photographing his samples – using his friends as models – to create a “look book”or portfolio. Response to this type of presentation was so strong that he resigned fromGant and headed for New York in August 1976 to pursue clients.
With his unique style, quality, value and speed of delivery, his business and hisreputation grew. Eventually, his worked turned from “look books” to include brochureand catalog design and production, which, in turn, led to the creation of advertising andmarketing campaigns.
By 42, Michael says that his life was defined by “great excitement, huge success, but very little substance.” It was a busy life, but one running on empty. Physically and emotionally, he “crashed and burned” and found himself spiraling into a dark abyss. The more he tried to get himself out of this darkness, the darker it got. Finally, unsure of his fate, He had a visitor and he recalls “the absolute presence of God” in his room.
“More of your way or would you like to try Mine?” the visitor asked. Michael realized that he had not treated well all that he had been given to him; that he had lived a life only for himself. He wanted to try “God’s way.” For the first time in a while, he slept.
Although Michael’s world was not instantly restored nor was everything, at once, “rosy, a change was underway and the journey to know his Lord and Savior had begun.
In 1993, continuing to photograph for fashion accounts, Michael took a break from “the business side” and began work on an idea for a book that he believed he could sell as a marketing tool for a large companies. The idea came to fruition when he sold the concept to Champion Sportswear, an Olympic sponsor under the Sarah Lee brand for the 1994 Winter Olympics. The book, “Beyond the Sport, The Victory Within,” told inspirational stories of America’s Winter Olympians. Michael photographed winter Olympian greats such as Peggy Fleming, Scott Hamilton and Eric Heiden. He wrote the book as well, eventually selling 25,000 copies. 1993 was also the year that, 23 years later, he was re-united with, and married, his college sweetheart, Cheryl.
Returning to Florida, Michael opened a fine art photography gallery in a beach resort. Sensing that God had greater plans beyond his fashion career, he began pursuing an idea that he believes God put on his heart.
The idea was to produce a collection of fine art photographs that would depict messages of Jesus and show His relevance in our modern world. The idea became a project and in 2008, Michael put closed the gallery and put his fashion photography on hold to begin work on Journeys with the Messiah. The project, which was first published in late 2009, consists of 33 images and the “parable-like” messages they depict. It has received accolades from around the world, including Dr. Charles Stanley of In Touch Ministries in Atlanta.
The images can be viewed on the Journeys with the Messiah website (TheJourneysProject.com. The images are also available in signed and numbered limited-edition fine art reproductions, a beautiful book, DVD and more. Michael travels to churches and other venues to present the images in an exciting audio/visual presentation.An exhibit and more images are planned.
