What do I have to do to become a war/news photographer?

[The Framed Life]

Originally Posted by mikekelley

Hmmm

Again, taking 2 different posts out of context. Sure, if I was in a foreign country with no authority in the middle of conflict, I'd do what I had to do to save my ass.

[The Shaheen]

Two very talented war photographers, Tim Hetherington, a British photojournalist, and his colleague Chris Hondros (US) were recently killed in Libya in Misrata from RPG fire..

They were both very talented and winners of many awards, including Tim Hetherington; Best known for his work in Afghanistan, he won the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year Award in 2007.

His time in Afghanistan led to his creation of the 2010 Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo.

Chris Hendros was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won many other awards..

They were very talented and also very brave.. More than most of us in our cosy urban shelters or studios.

C'mon guys, i thought POTN was a friendly, helpful place for someone who wants to be a photographer..

Does it really matter if he wants to shoot Fashion,War, Macro or Weddings?

[ckramos]

http://www.nppa.org/professional_dev...he_job_market/

Another good point is that you have citizenship from a neutral country, Canada.

[The Framed Life]

Originally Posted by ckramos

http://www.nppa.org/professional_dev...he_job_market/

Another good point is that you have citizenship from a neutral country, Canada.

thank you very much for your link.

[The Shaheen]

Not sure about the neutral bit..

As we speak, Canadian forces are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya..

A Malaysian flag on his camera bag might be more useful.

[FlyingPhotog]

Originally Posted by The Shaheen

C'mon guys, i thought POTN was a friendly, helpful place for someone who wants to be a photographer..

Does it really matter if he wants to shoot Fashion,War, Macro or Weddings?

As I see it, there have been several suggestions offered but the OP seems to know both what he wants to do and how not to go about it.

Kind of a frustrating situation wouldn't you say?

[The Framed Life]

There has been one suggestion offered, join the army. When I said I'd like to explore other options, it became a flame war about how many opportunities the army offers and how it's "too rugged" for me.

[Staszek]

Originally Posted by The Framed Life

I'd really rather do it outside the military, personal preference, I was in army cadets as a 12-14 year old and it's a lot of stuff I don't want to do just to take a camera to a war zone, and even then there's no guarantee I'll be deployed for a long while, and once I am there won't be much time to go out with camera.

And again, yes, I understand the risk.

Originally Posted by The Framed Life

There has been one suggestion offered, join the army. When I said I'd like to explore other options, it became a flame war about how many opportunities the army offers and how it's "too rugged" for me.

You're not understanding the suggestion to join the army. They have actual photographer positions, not just a soldier with a camera. Your job is to photograph the military/war action.

If you want to shoot as a media photographer, you have no protection. You are not assigned to cover a certain group of soldiers, nor are you guaranteed protection. Legally, as a media agent, you are also not allowed to carry a weapon or defend yourself with one. With the way that the enemy fights today, I would not be caught solo with just a 70-200.

I am friends with a retired war photographer and that is what he advised me since I too was interested in war photography. For safety and steady pay, join the military as a photographer. If you want to say your good byes, find a media source that wants you.

[TheBurningCrown]

Originally Posted by Staszek

With the way that the enemy fights today, I would not be caught solo with just a 70-200..

You obviously don't understand how heavy the 70-200 mkII is .

[The Shaheen]

Originally Posted by The Shaheen

Two very talented war photographers, Tim Hetherington, a British photojournalist, and his colleague Chris Hondros (US) were recently killed in Libya in Misrata from RPG fire..

They were both very talented and winners of many awards, including Tim Hetherington; Best known for his work in Afghanistan, he won the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year Award in 2007.

His time in Afghanistan led to his creation of the 2010 Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo.

Chris Hendros was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won many other awards..

They were very talented and also very brave.. More than most of us in our cosy urban shelters or studios.

C'mon guys, i thought POTN was a friendly, helpful place for someone who wants to be a photographer..

Does it really matter if he wants to shoot Fashion,War, Macro or Weddings?

Sorry to inadvertently type the word 'Talented' 3 times in there..

I wasn't trying to make a point.. late at night here, i was just tired and wanted to go to sleep..

[FlyingPhotog]

Originally Posted by The Framed Life

There has been one suggestion offered, join the army. When I said I'd like to explore other options, it became a flame war about how many opportunities the army offers and how it's "too rugged" for me.

Go back and read my original reply...

Not every response was "Join The Army."

[The Shaheen]

Since, the public opinion changed the outcome of the Vietnam war through public pressure and the same for the early parts of the Falklands (Malvinas) war, the armies have learnt NOT to let the media loose on reportage that shows them in bad light.

When the public opinion changes, it puts a lot pressure on the electioneering politicians to pull the troops back. Therefore the media gets tightly controlled.

If he joins the army as a photographer, he will only be allowed to show what the army wants him to show and no more.

If any reporter goes in to go pictures of the war, their agency/media have to get permission from respective Defence Departments and they are Embedded. Again, they can only show what they are told to.

Even if 'The Media' gets given some pictures that are, let's say, 'Uncomfortable', they are very likely not to publish/show them, as their advertisers run away like crazy. It's a much juicier option to print a couple of pictures of Paris Hilton coming out of a nightclub doing an upskirt in a drunken haze.

If any reporter goes in as freelance, they are fair game to be shot by either side or worse kidnapped. The facts show that more than triple the number of reporters were killed in the recent conflicts than the total of any other time in history..

Even the Al Jazeera offices near Baghdad were 'accidentally' bombed a few years back, as they could not be guaranteed to show what they were supposed to.

I think any reporter who goes in on their own, knowing these facts, must be very brave or foolish or both. Or maybe trying to get away from a nagging girlfriend/wife.

It must be very frustrating for a budding reporter who is itching to tell/show 'The Unbiased Truth' to know where/how to even get started.

I am surprised that, amongst all the gifted photographers at POTN, not a single War Photojournalist has spotted this thread yet, to give us the real breakdown.

[yogestee]

A little off topic but get yourself a copy of "One Crowded Hour" written by Tim Bowden.

It's the biography of Australian cameraman Neil Davis and his deeds in Vietnam and Cambodia during the 1960s and 1970s,,a fascinating read.

Neil Davis survived (only just) the horrors of the Second Indochina War, only to be killed while filming a Thai coup d'état in Bangkok in 1986 (if I remember rightly), along with his Thai sound man.

Neil Davis was the guy who filmed the North Vietnamese tank crashing through the Presidential Palace gates during the fall of Saigon.

Tim Bowden (Australian), along with Tim Page (British) and Sean Flynn (Australian, the son of Errol Flynn) worked together in Vietnam and Cambodia as photojournalists. Sean Flynn was killed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Also check out some of Tim Page's work out of Vietnam,, brilliant photography.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Page_(photographer)

http://www.vietnampix.com/

Another great read is Tim Page's book "Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden" where Page goes back to Vietnam and Cambodia looking for Sean Flynn's remains. He goes back to his old haunts in Indochina and relives his memories of the war.

[The Shaheen]

Originally Posted by yogestee

A little off topic but get yourself a copy of "One Crowded Hour" written by Tim Bowden.

It's the biography of Australian cameraman Neil Davis and his deeds in Vietnam and Cambodia during the 1960s and 1970s,,a fascinating read.

Neil Davis survived (only just) the horrors of the Second Indochina War, only to be killed while filming a Thai coup d'état in Bangkok in 1986 (if I remember rightly), along with his Thai sound man.

Neil Davis was the guy who filmed the North Vietnamese tank crashing through the Presidential Palace gates during the fall of Saigon.

Tim Bowden (Australian), along with Tim Page (British) and Sean Flynn (Australian, the son of Errol Flynn) worked together in Vietnam and Cambodia as photojournalists. Sean Flynn was killed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Also check out some of Tim Page's work out of Vietnam,, brilliant photography.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Page_(photographer)

http://www.vietnampix.com/

Another great read is Tim Page's book "Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden" where Page goes back to Vietnam and Cambodia looking for Sean Flynn's remains. He goes back to his old haunts in Indochina and relives his memories of the war.

Some of the pictures in that Vietnam site look amazing and up-to-date..

They don't look like faded 60's pictures.. The journalists who took them must have been really brave.

[The Shaheen]

Originally Posted by yogestee

A little off topic but get yourself a copy of "One Crowded Hour" written by Tim Bowden.

I looked through some of your pictures in your site.. Very nice, you seemed to have captured their soul. The impression i get is that once they trust you, they really trust you..

The people of Laos seem to be a friendly bunch.. I have seen a lot of pictures from Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia,and Indonesia, it looks very similar, apart from maybe the latter two being more urban. Is it fun living there?

The light in the East is amazing.. I doubt if anyone needs to use the flash on a camera..

If you don't mind me asking, how do you find an outlet for your pictures?