Not forgotten; never forgotten
I have been sadly remiss in maintaining this blog recently. I hadn’t been on too many photo adventures, and there has just been lots going on in my world lately. In the world at large, as well, there has been lots going on. This past week has seen two amazing photographers killed covering the conflict in Libya, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros. I guess I’ve been sorting through a lot of thoughts about the whole thing… Is covering war worth risking your life? I think I would say yes, but I’m not sure if I have the strength to do it myself. Although if someone offered me the chance right now to go to the Middle East or Africa to shoot, I would say yes.
And then I recently came across the work of photographer Ben Horton, who has shot for National Geographic and has just done some seriously cool work. One of his older blog posts talks about what separates a National Geographic photographer from anyone else, and one of the points he made is the ability of your images to tell a cohesive story. This is a pretty fundamental starting point for photojournalists, and one that I had pretty much completely lost track of since graduating two years ago. Reading his post made me realize that even though I have shot a lot of photos over the past two years, I have not consciously tried to tell a story with any of them.
Perhaps this is an embarrassing admission; maybe this is another reason why I’m not really a “photojournalist,” and it is unfair to consider myself as such. Yet deep down, I like to think that storytelling remains at the heart of what I do. Even if I am not doing so consciously, and so probably missing something important, I try to illuminate a person or event with my images. Everyone has a story to tell; everyone gives off their own light, and it is my goal to be able to capture those essences with my camera.
So: moving forward, I am once again focused on the story telling, of finding the reason behind the images and conveying that to viewers. Two weeks ago I spent a glorious week photographing, once again, in Moab, Utah at the first climbing camp of the season for First Descents, an organization that provides outdoor adventure trips for young adult cancer survivors. I am (honestly) not satisfied with how well my images tell the story of these amazing people and the out-of-control-awesome week we shared together in Utah. But they are still great photos. We all still had such a great time. Some of that definitely shines through. Thanks for bearing through my long post, and now, enjoy some photos!! Thanks.
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