Anderson Cooper grew up in New York City, attending the Dalton School and later Yale University before pursuing a journalism career. He became a correspondent for ABC News in 1995, moving to anchor positions on CNN a few years later and hosting his own news program, Anderson Cooper 360°, beginning in 2003. He is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt with whom Gordon Parks maintained a meaningful personal and artistic relationship. Cooper remembers Parks as the epitome of cool from his youth and credits Parks’ photo essays for Life magazine as an influence on his desire to pursue journalism.

“Be honest about what you see, get out of the way and let the story reveal itself.” Anderson Cooper