Approaching the End

As one approaches the end of one's life,though, I hope, not any time soon, one tends to both look back and look ahead, with equal intensity. What one has accomplished,has been and where one has gone, all combine to make you who you are today and to prepare you for who you will become tomorrow. Essentially, you will be the same person, but with subtle changes, assuming that you are not contemplating an early departure from this mortal coil. But since life is an evolution and not a script, you will continue to grow as both a person and an artist. Looking back on your life gives one a great perspective on where to take the remainder of it.Things you have yet to experience and images you have yet to capture/create are undoubtedly a part of the process, but what of things and images you have already accomplished?

What prompted this entry, was a piece in the Guardian newspaper about a favourite photographer of mine, Bruce Davidson, who wishes to discover whatever happened to a young girl that he photographed some 50 years ago, in England. At the time, she was on her way to a concert, on an island,most probably the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Man and carrying a kitten. The shot is one most fans of the photographer will remember. Seeing it again and reading the article, I began to wonder if such an image,existed for me?I realised that there were, in fact, several. Some were of people and others of buildings or landscapes, places or things. Could I return to them to find them today? In some cases, I am certain, not, but in others perhaps they could be revisited and re-explored. Likewise, were the things I have not yet gotten to. Would I still be able to capture those, as yet unseen, pieces of my "bucket list"? Certainly some of them, I would want to think, but perhaps not all.

I am far from staring at my imminent demise, but I can see the light in the clearing, at the end of the path and although it does not frighten me, in any way, it is starting to lend an urgency to my outlook on the future. There are a host of images that I have not yet taken, many, many places that I have not visited and I realise, more than a few that I would like to re-visit. Then there are the many non photographic adventures that I still wish to embark upon and a few personal goals that are left to be satisfied. Time marches on and I, like most others, am only a few steps ahead of the old gentleman! So, the question is, will I persevere and press on with my life and my dreams, or let him catch up and try to be satisfied with what I have? At my age, 62, many people would simply rest on their laurels and wait. I will not. I will not, mostly because my laurels are not that impressive and I know I can do better, but also because life is a grand adventure and should not be squandered, nor short changed. When one embarks upon an endeavour, one has an obligation to see it through. My chosen endeavour was to live a full life and to chronicle as much of it as I could manage. Neither goal has been accomplished, as yet and I owe it to myself to see them through. I wouldn't be the person I think I am if I did not.

Pick up and Run

I was talking with a good friend the other night and he was marvelling over a photograph, from Libya, that had been taken by a French photojournalist. During the conversation he mentioned several times, that he would love to be in Libya, at the moment, as he had worked there,in another life, before photography and he knew the country and the people well. Subsequently, he felt that he would be able to get some exceptional images. What came next, was very interesting, he commented, that he did not think, that he would have gotten the image, that we had just been looking at, despite his belief that he should be there. His reasons for the statement are really not important, nor in my mind even relevant, but the statement itself was revealing. Here was a photographer, a very good one and one for whom photojournalism was a passion and yet he felt that he would not have been ready to capture this iconic, once in a lifetime( and it was ) image. I was actually quite surprised and it started me thinking. Having worked as a photojournalist and to an extent still doing so, I began to ponder the role of the photojournalist as documentarian, rather than news gatherer. Was my friends belief that he could capture unique images of the turmoil,false, or was his definition of his presence, that of a photojournalist,gathering news,inaccurate? Larry Towell, a renowned Canadian photojournalist and member of Magnum, does not gather breaking news, but rather documents the depth and the affects of a struggle on the people involved. Larry is a documentary photojournalist, rather than a hard news gatherer.Was this what my friend was trying to describe when he referred to his desire to be in Libya? Could he, subconsciously, have felt that he would not have gotten the aforementioned shot, because he would have been prepared not for hard news,but for life stories?

The traditional vision of a photojournalist, in the vein of a Burrows, or a Capa, was an individual whose bags were always packed and who could be expected, at a moments notice, to pick up and run, to whatever conflict or event, wherever in the world it happened.To the extent that that, is possible, in today's highly complex and profit oriented world, that may still be the case, but more and more, it is not. Today, such ventures must be intricately planned and authorized. Winging off to Vietnam, with a borrowed camera and a lust for adventure, as Tim Page did in the sixties, is not that realistic today. The glory days of photojournalism, are mostly, behind us now, replaced by the corporate dictates of profit and loss, versus, acceptable risk and exposure. Yes they want the stories, but not at great cost in relation to responsibility for photojournalist's remains or health care. Hence, you will see many more images from highly experienced shooters, from VII, or Magnum, or a news agency such as AP, or Reuters, than you will from some adventuresome individual with a camera and a dream. Such is not the case however, with the photo-ducumentarian. Here lies the path of the photojournalist of old and here lies the true recording for posterity, of world events. The risks, financially, are high. There are no guarantees of a front cover and an inside spread, after the initial public impact subsides, but here are where the real stories get told. Here are the people, left behind, to pick up the pieces of their broken lives and their broken countries. Here in the aftermath of the trouble and strife, are the images of the real cost of conflict and disaster. Here is where the photojournalist's eye is most challenged and most needed and all too often, absent.

Evening of the Day

I've been sitting, listening to an old Rolling Stones album and one song in particular is ringing in my mind. Though written by the Stones, it was given to Marianne Faithful to record first and, as it turned out, was a hit for both,eventually."As Tears Go By" begins with the line,"It is the evening of the day" and as I sit writing this entry, that is exactly what is unfolding, outside my window. As the day, slowly, draws to a close, I find myself thinking about other such evenings and other places and events.Some, have a definite photographic reference, while others, not so much. This day, I did nothing photographic, save, perhaps write this blog entry. Today, was the first really warm day of the spring and brightly sunny to boot. It was a day for outdoor activity and spring cleaning, of which I did very little and none at all.Nevertheless, it was a productive day, in other ways and ultimately, a day to think about some of those "other" evenings.One, in particular, comes to mind and re-minds me that some of our greatest moments,as chroniclers of the world around us,can frequently happen when we are contemplating other things. I captured one of the best sunset images/cityscapes, of my career while standing out on a tiny, apartment, balcony with a glass of wine, watching the evening pass into night. It suddenly dawned on me, that I was watching a rather spectacular image unfold and my cameras were nowhere in sight! I suppose, that I could have simply stayed and watched the evening sky,lord knows, I had a million sunsets, in my files, but something, in my soul, just would not let me. So, in a blind fury, I rushed about gathering camera and tripod and set up, half in the doorway and half on the tiny concrete pad.I metered the sky, adjusted for the sun, framed and re-framed the shot but,eventually,I waited. Somewhere amidst all the fuss, I had come to the realization, that my shot, was not yet complete and that when it was,I would see it. I did and the image was truly worth all the turmoil and upheaval, in an otherwise perfectly beautiful,calm, evening. Of course, as it turned out, I could have taken all the time I needed to set up and the calm of the evening would have been more ,or less, unruffled, but such is not often the way of photographers. We tend to always react as if our very lives depended on our next few seconds of life and although at times, it might,generally, we needn't rush about madly. One may miss more of life and it's images than one captures when always in a hurry. Sometimes, the evening is meant to be lingered over,as well; maybe the day preceding it. Often, in our rush to accomplish, we fail to see and beyond all else, that is what garners us our greatest accomplishments, accolades, images and pleasures. By definition, a photographer must be one who sees, sees light ,sees life, sees the world around them and captures moments,from that,for us all to contemplate. Whether those moments, change the world,or simply change your perception of it, it is the photographer's eye that presents them to you. Perhaps, were we to take more of our time to see more of our world, there would be more of those moments, to make more of those changes.

Events of the Day

Sitting here reading about Egypt and watching events unfold via the net I am reminded of another time,seemingly eons ago, when access was not so instantaneous and world news took a bit longer to reach the mainstream. Then was a time, when the roll of the photojournalist appeared somewhat more pivotal than it is today, with it's instant everything and it's citizen journalists. Then was a time, when photos told a concise and often cryptic story of events unfolding in some distant,or even local,corner of the world. Often times, the photographer had as much difficulty getting his or her images to the world, as they did capturing them and sometimes with as great a risk to life and limb. The wire services were a reasonably direct route, provided they were there, but still one had to get to the wire service offices, be they permanent, or temporarily set up in some hotel room or newspaper's offices. Unfortunately, in many cases, the photojournalist was faced with no existing services and the need to avoid getting caught trying to get film out of the area, while in others, the need was to get the film back to the nearest news centre, be that continents away of merely many miles to a major city.

Today, the need is only to find an internet connection and a moments peace and quiet with your laptop,but even that is not easily found at times. Beyond that however, is another problem,one of potentially greater risk and inconvenience. Today, mostly unlike before, the journalists are often finding themselves targeted by the very events they are trying to cover. More and more often they are finding themselves cast as the adversary,rather than the chronicler of events. Unlike an earlier time, when, for the most part, journalists were looked upon as non-combatants and left alone by the factions they were documenting, today they find themselves being singled out for potentially deadly attention. The digital age has brought with it, not only instant news, but instant recognition of who is saying, or documenting,what. Less and less often can one be in support of "A" at this checkpoint and "B" at another, as they work their way around a conflict zone. While further exacerbating issues, is the sometimes aggressive response to any and all journalists, regardless of their apparent published leanings towards any one side of a conflict. Witness, for example, the growing number of journalists being injured and in some cases, killed in the political struggle now unfolding in Egypt! The attitudes towards the press, are changing, both at home and abroad and the sanctity,if that is what it is, of that press is not only being questioned, but is often ignored by the participants in the events of the day,worldwide.