Olympic Photographer Jean Fruth Makes Stop in Wickenburg to Speak in Changemaker Series

Professional sports photographer Jean Fruth will speak about her photography career and current project at the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Named a Sony Artisan of Imagery, Fruth has been honing her craft for several decades and continues to make monumental strides, most recently at this year’s Olympic Games.

Wanting to become a photographer, Fruth sought the help of her first two mentors — two women who created artsy black-and-white portraits. In exchange for helping them print photographs, the women mentored Fruth, letting her accompany them on shoots.

Eventually breaking out of portrait photography, Fruth began photographing sports, which led her to submit photos of a California Little League All-Star game to a local newspaper. Needing a high school and college photographer, the paper hired Fruth. She began her journey as a sports photographer and“never looked back.”

Fruth later was mentored by professional baseball photographer Michael Zagaris, who photographed the Oakland A’s, San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants.

While filling in as his assistant during several games, Fruth covered baseball for the newspaper, which allowed her to obtain a sports photography credential.

Through her work with Zagaris, Fruth became the traveling photographer for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In an effort to reach a younger audience through social media, Fruth was assigned to write about contemporary games and connect them with history — her introduction to storytelling.

For Fruth, the favorite part of photography is telling stories. While the game action is exhilarating, she also enjoys observing what happens around the action.

Regarding learning from her mentors, Fruth said,“You get different things from different people.”Having had a mentor who was a photo editor for Sports Illustrated, Fruth added,“Learning how to edit makes you a better photographer for sure, because you can’t make a good picture if you don’t know what one is.”

Fruth credits learning how to edit as the main driving force that accelerated her career more than anything else.

She said the hardest part of being a photographer is gaining access. For new photographers, obtaining credentials to shoot sports and events can be difficult, but it is not the end-all, be-all.

“It’s not really who you are shooting,”she said.“It’s the what.”

Beginning photographers do not need to photograph the top person in their field to make great photos, Fruth said. Instead, the best images showcase something captivating, such as dramatic lighting or fun events.

Failure also is a difficult part of photography, Fruth said, noting that photographers sometimes take far more bad photos than good ones.

“Sometimes you walk away and feel like you have nothing,”she said.“You don’t feel good about your shoot.”

However, Fruth said one thing that makes photography so special is the relationship photographers develop with their subjects.

Using a high-stakes sporting event such as the Olympics as an example, she said,“With that great Olympic moment — and you remember a picture forever — that athlete at their peak moment is tied in with that photographer at their peak moment.”

Fruth has published three books on her favorite sport to photograph, baseball:Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin(2019),Grassroots Baseball: Route 66(2022) andGrassroots Baseball Women: See Her Be Her(2024).

For Fruth, baseball“connects generations,”has a rich history and a“tribal”feel that makes it ideal for storytelling.

After completingWhere Legends Begin, Fruth connected with the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and launched the nonprofit Grassroots Baseball. Citing research that shows children who play sports have better outcomes in health, academics and life overall, Fruth usedRoute 66to reach children across the country.

Hall of Fame players joined the effort by teaching clinics at minor league ballparks, and Fruth partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs across the United States.

That project led to her most recent book,See Her Be Her, which documents women in baseball. For the project, Fruth interviewed several baseball legends who inspired the 1992 filmA League of Their Own.

Along with the book, Fruth filmed a documentary — produced by tennis legend Billie Jean King — that aired on MLB Network during the World Series, which Fruth also photographed this past season.

While Fruth has photographed a wide range of sports – with a focus on baseball – her latest project focuses on another women’s sport: hockey.

Having recently begun working with the Professional Women’s Hockey League, Fruth is currently in Milan, Italy, photographing several league members in what she described as a“dream”opportunity: the 2026 Winter Olympics.

After finishing her Olympic work in mid-February, Fruth will make a quick turnaround to speak at the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Changemaker Series on Feb. 26.

In addition to her photography work, Fruth teaches classes and enjoys mentoring the next generation of photographers.

Her best advice:“Know what you love. Start small. Shoot one thing and get good at it. The more you know the sport, the better your pictures will get, [because] having deep knowledge of your subject is going to make you a better photographer.”

Fruth hopes traveling the world promotingSee Her Be Herwill help bring more attention to women’s sports.

“What women need is visibility,” she said. “Visibility creates opportunities, and there is no greater time in women’s sports than now.”