The Accidental Millionaire is the memoir of Gary Fong, would-be slacker who revolutionized wedding photography, inventor of popular photography aids, entrepreneur, contrarian, bon vivant and a man who really, really didn't want to become a doctor. A first-generation Chinese-American, Gary was raised in one of Los Angeles' least-desirable neighborhoods and was forced to deal―in his own quirky and often very funny way―with the burdens of poverty, crime and his parents' relentless aspirations. These issues almost overwhelmed him until he had a dramatic epiphany. Spotting a bumper sticker that read "Since I gave up hope, I feel much better," Gary promptly did just that.
He stopped trying and started succeeding. At turns hilarious, insightful and instructive, The Accidental Millionaire is Horatio Alger-meets-David Sedaris. Turning the traditional self-help principles upside down, The Accidental Millionaire disdains the goal-oriented approaches of traditional self-help philosophies. Sometimes not knowing where you are going is the best possible way to get there.
Gary Fong is a globally renowned photographer, inventor and entrepreneur. He is the father of "story-booking," now the industry standard in wedding photography, in which candid shots are arranged in real time to tell a story, as opposed to the archaic method of taking posed, stilted shots. He is also the inventor of the Lightsphere, a specially colored dome that is held in place over the flash unit of a camera. Before long, more than 200,000 units were sold worldwide, thus creating a multimillion-dollar plastics business. Since inventing the Lightsphere, Fong has built a veritable cottage industry around variations on the popular product, including The Origami and The Puffer, all of which have become standard equipment used by most wedding photographers worldwide. He is considered one of the most influential photographers and inventors of his generation.
Gary Fong (b. December 6, 1960 in Seattle, WA, USA) is a photographer who ended his 20 year long career in 2002 to pursue other interests, including creating a product marketed as the solution to unflattering images lit with direct flash lighting called the "Lightsphere." Since introducing it in late 2004, more than 400,000 Lightspheres have been sold worldwide.
After inventing the Lightsphere, Fong built a veritable cottage industry around variations on his popular dome-shaped Lightsphere light diffuser including variations called, "The Origami" and "The Puffer".
Fong began assisting wedding photographer Rocky Gunn (whose work he had seen highlighted in LIFE magazine one week earlier). Fong called his style of wedding photography "The Storybook", and relied upon a sequential approach using graphic page layout designs. At the time that Fong introduced his "Storybook" style, the majority of wedding photographers offered a very limited selection of posed images, one image per page. Eventually, Fong would design a custom software program called "Montage" which automated the cumbersome process of designing and ordering complex album design layouts. Montage software was later sold to Art Leather Mfg. Co., at the time the largest manufacturer of wedding albums in the world. ---------- Education
Fong holds a B.S. Pharm degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After working in clinics and emergency rooms, Fong made an about face after graduation, discarded his medical training and picked up a camera to shoot weddings. ---------- Career
Starting in a bedroom of his parent's apartment, Fong started shooting weddings for $150/no time limit. While this entry price severely undermined the pricing standards, he was able to sell comprehensive designs at an option that was far more costly than the basic package. He would go on to photograph such luminaries as, Sylvester Stallone, President Ronald Reagan, Hollywood Magnate Sidney Sheldon, Actress Lee Remick, Paul McCartney, Peter Criss (of Kiss), Bruce Lee, Todd Rundgren, Priscilla Presley, Pia Zadora, Michael Landon, Florence Henderson, Shelly Fabares, among many others. Here Comes the Guide, a highly respected "bible" of wedding planning has said, "Every once in a while someone comes along to revolutionize an art form; for wedding photography, that someone Is Gary Fong." His photographic images have been used for national ad campaigns for Fuji, Kodak, Canon and Hasselblad. Fong was selected in the telecast, "Weddings 2000" as one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world. This live simulcast was broadcast to movie theaters around the world, and was a first of its kind. --------- Fees
When starting his career with used cameras in 1983, Fong had a start price of $150.00 per day. By the last shoot of his career, his fee to shoot a wedding was published at a minimum fee of $120,000, though this intended to be a whimsical deterrent to further bookings as he had already retired. -------- Co Founder of Pictage, Inc.
Fong is also the co-founder of Pictage, Inc.'s Digital Photo Lab. With the advent of digital, Fong knew that online presentation of images would be best matched to an instant print delivery service. So, joining up with Pictage's online presence, Fong brought his own personal print lab into Pictage's headquarters, and installed it in the kitchen. Joining the Board of Directors and Senior Management team, Pictage started with seven employees in a small office, and within years the employee count would top 150, making Pictage the largest dedicated online digital/web solution anywhere in the United States. Apax partners invested $29 million dollars to acquire Pictage in 2006. --------- Post-retirement
After retiring from wedding photography in 2002, Fong co-founded and became director of Pictage, Inc. Fong expanded into extensive real estate holdings with properties in the U.S. and Canada (with a focus in lakefront homes, ski properties a horse ranch in British Columbia, a yacht chartering business in Los Angeles, a shipping and distribution warehouse in Wisconsin Rapids, WI (Consolidated Fulfillment Solutions, Inc), and a plastics manufacturing company in Columbus, Indiana (EcoPlastics, Inc) specializing in environmentally-friendly plastics made from corn and other bio materials. ---------- Memoirs
On January 19, 2009 Publisher's Marketplace announced the acquisition of world publication rights to, "Gary Fong's THE ACCIDENTAL MILLIONAIRE: How to Succeed in Life without Really Trying", described as "a humorous, poignant memoir of the man said to have revolutionized wedding photography", to Glenn Yeffeth at BenBella books, for publication in October 2009
This review is from: The Accidental Millionaire: How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying (Paperback)
I received this book as a complimentary gift while at the Henry's Photography Show in Toronto, Canada and I must say that it was very inspiring. It's an easy and comical read! I come from a video/tv background and ended up being so inspired while reading the book, that I enrolled in a photography course. Although the book primarily focuses on Gary's memoirs, there are some great nuggets of advice that Gary imparts about approaching success. For example, focus on the process, not the result. I would highly recommend this book to photography enthusiasts as well as anyone eager for insight into approaching success in their own life.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: The Accidental Millionaire: How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying (Paperback)
I have to admit, I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I absolutely LOVED this book. Not only is there a great dose of humor, the path that has gotten Mr. Fong to the point he is today is one of the most engaging stories I have read.
Gary's parents were immigrants and wanted nothing but the best for their only child. They struggled after Gary's dad lost his job at Boeing and his mom took to styling and selling wigs, prepping them in their small 600 square foot apartment. Can you imagine everything in your home being covered with the lacquer emitted from hair spray? Gary knew by the age of 10 that he needed to take his life into his own hands.
Many of the aspects of this book are pulled from journals that Gary kept as a child and they are such a unique insight into a man who has truly lived up to his full potential. A keen business mind and the determination to try and make a career out of something that showed him a glimpse of success after college made Gary a millionaire.
This book is one that I would highly recommend - even though it is a work of non-fiction (which is not usually something that I would enjoy to be honest) the style of writing is extremely fluid and full of humor, intelligence, and the drive to succeed.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: The Accidental Millionaire: How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying (Paperback)
I found this book by accident. I didn't know anything about Gary Fong, but I am so glad I found the book. (Strolling through Barnes & Noble - sorry Amazon!) This book is for everyone, not just for photographers or entrepreneurs. I don't read "making it in business books" so I don't know how this one compares, but it's excellent in that he applies his Zen sensibility and a wonderful creativity to his intelligent approach to business and life. This book kind of has it all: honesty, overcoming adversity, funny stories, success, failure, how a visionary works, cliffhangers, romantic troubles and like a great Hollywood Romantic Comedy - a very, very happy ending! Women will love the romance - men will love his "building an empire" stories. I loved it all. Congratulations, Gary, you are an inspiration and deserve all that you have. And by the way - don't want to burst your bubble - but you DID work very hard. That's the only white lie in this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
