10
or make a very clear attempt not to be a journalist, but that’s when I’m dealing with people who are clearly breaking the law. They’re criminals, you know, and you’re not going to be able to photograph them or their activities without… you know, you can’t go in as a journalist.
But 99 per cent of the case I’m just trying to have a discussion where I go, ‘Look, you have a perspective, you have your own point of view. Let me represent that point of view because I’m not here to take one picture, I’m here to create an essay and that essay should be something that provokes discussion and allows people to arrive at their own conclusion, so let me represent your point of view.’ I believe in that. That’s where we’re supposed to be as journalists as well. It’s supposed to be an objective profession.
You’ve won an astonishing number of awards over the years. How important are they?
It’s important for the publications more than it is for me personally at this point, honestly. Look, I’m grateful and it is great to have your work acknowledged in some of those forums. But there’s also a lot of awards that come out every year that are inexplicable. And you go, ‘Really? I don’t understand that one.’ So, I think it’s important not to get too caught up in it, you know. Say ‘Thank you very much’, but try to keep your focus on doing good work, that’s really it. Someone like Nick Nichols is important because Nick basically expanded his medium. He advanced the course of photography by the use of technology, by thinking outside of the box. I value that more than the awards. You can get a bit obsessive about the award stuff, and what I see is that you get pressure from your agency, you get pressure from publications, you’ll feel
pressure yourself, and ultimately what started off as a very pure pursuit can become something that’s tainted. I think if you win, ideally it is a consequence of having done great work, it’s not as a consequence of starting off winning awards as your first priority – because that certainly happens in our industry.
Where are you off to next?
I’ll be in the UAE and Uzbekistan.
And you’ve been to Somalia and the Peruvian Amazon before this.
Yeah, I’ve been to 20 countries so far this year.
All for different stories?
Yeah, all different stories. There’s a couple that are coming together as one story, but a lot of it is just individual stuff. I do stories and we have to do annual report stuff, we do corporate stuff, we do some advertising. Very few photojournalists that I know can afford to only do that. I mean, I would like to work on the environment ten months of the year, but as it is I’m lucky to work six months.
One photographer once told me the hardest part about his job was leaving home each time because he might be away for six months. Is that the same for you?
It sucks, man. Listen, that guy had the incredible luxury of six-month assignments, okay? We have the incredible luxury of six-week assignments, so he can kiss my ass!
There’s that aspect to it, but when you’re in a situation when you know you’re going away for six months, bring your wife out. Most of those guys aren’t doing jobs that are so dangerous they can’t bring their family with them at some point, you know? So, we romanticize this profession a little bit, it’s kind of bullshit.
These days my rule is to try not to be away for more than six weeks at a time. Even if I come home for only three or four days, I get to see my wife. Divorce is expensive, etcetera!
A lot of us, we get caught up in this notion that this is a noble profession and our spouses and our kids should understand that. Well, I have a reality check for those who think like that: that’s bullshit, it’s not real. Other people are entitled, if they’ve committed to spending time with you or being in your life, you owe them something for that. Set a limit on the amount of time you spend away from your family or your friends because otherwise you’re going to lose them.
These days my rule is to try not to be away for more than six weeks at a time