FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Melanie Porter, Chief Marketing Officer
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
American Society of Media Photographers CEO James Edmund Datri Stepping Down in December
San Francisco, California — American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Board Chair Gabriella Marks today announced that the Society’s CEO, James Edmund Datri, has informed the Board that he will be stepping down from his post at the close of business on December 13th to accept a new opportunity.
The Board is in discussions about how to fill the position, whether with an interim or permanent new leader, and whether to hire from within or conduct an external search. When the Board has made determinations about next steps, an additional announcement will be made.
Gabriella Marks said, “Jim arrived at ASMP at a point of financial crisis for the organization that had been building with years of declining numbers, and with our members struggling with the effects of the Pandemic on their businesses. The turnaround plan Jim designed and led began showing results rapidly, with the development of a host of new online member services designed to better meet members’ needs, the opening of our membership for the first time to new media visual content creators, and the creation of an entirely new marketing platform to highlight a revised value proposition to potential members all across the globe. Under his transformational leadership these past four-plus years, ASMP among many achievements began its first-ever corporate membership program, exponentially increased sponsorship support, built the ASMP Academy Powered by SONY, launched a new global photography competition with TIME, and forged a series of important partnerships across industry verticals. As a result, we are today a strong and growing organization with members now in 70 nations.”
James Edmund Datri said, “Leading this storied organization has been one of my professional life’s greatest honors, and working with and getting to know so many of the world’s leading media photographers has been an exceptional privilege. Across the varied arenas of advertising, fashion, entertainment, photojournalism, sports, nature, portraiture, magazines, fine art, and beyond, this organization’s membership impacts how people experience and understand the world around them. I am enormously proud of all we’ve built together, an organization that is designed to serve and advance the profession’s needs and its continued growth around the world into the future.”
Marks added, “The Board voted unanimously to award Jim the honorary title of CEO Emeritus effective upon his departure from ASMP, the first time the Board has done so in ASMP’s 80-year history, in recognition of his extraordinary leadership and turnaround of our organization.”