THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER?
meaningful impactful beautiful tragic I could go on and on today I'm nervous about this episode because I just am afraid I'm not going to do him Justice I I'll do my best but today I'm going to tell you why I feel that war photographer James KN way is the best photographer to have ever done it I know you can debate and everyone has different interests in different genres and such but for me for me he's the best photographer ever and today I'm going to tell you why before we get into things I just want to thank printique for sponsoring this episode I use them for all my personal and professional printing needs everything from printing images of my dogs and framing them and keeping them all around my house to using them to sell prints of my New York Times work that I've shot and all sorts of other work that I've shot and selling those prints through my online store they make it quick they make it easy and they make it affordable I encourage all of you guys to print your images personally and professionally I don't care what level you are I don't care if you think your images aren't print worthy they are and if you think it's complicated it's not open up an account and use the affiliate Link in the description box below okay first thing is to open up Mr noct's website go to james.com I'll put that here you can type it in or you can use the link in the description Box open up his website and kind of follow along here or if you don't have a separate device or separate screen to open up his website leave me right now and go do a deep dive into his work and I'm totally okay with losing you for him I think he's much more worthy of your time than I am and than I ever will be I'm not being humble I'm just being truthful he's a legend and then come back and if you want you can add something in the comment section and thank me later and I'll say you're welcome um okay so when you land on his website I think this is important to say so I'll read what it says on his website it says I have been a witness and these pictures are my testimony the events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated James knock way so I first learned about James knock work when I was studying photojournalism at San Francisco State now it might seem like an obscure school but in my opinion it's one of the best schools for photojournalists in the world uh our professor literally wrote the book on photojournalism and we were exposed to a lot of international photographers we started learning like a lot about like newspaper photographers locally but our professor really opened up our minds to all these photographers around the world and being in San Francisco we got to see a lot of these famous International photographers speak so seven agency was born around that time it was a collective of extremely talented War photographers conflict photographers documentary photographers I got to see them speak at Berkeley we even took a road trip down to Pasadena to see these guys speak and they all had this like aura about them all very talented all covering important issues but I was always drawn to knock way because when I saw him speak his work was so impactful so loud so raw I expected him to have the personality to match but he didn't when you see him speak he's very softspoken he works very graciously if you get a chance to watch the documentary about his work War photographer it's fantastic it's like back in the old days he had like it wasn't even like a GoPro I don't even think GoPros were around them he just had this little camera rigged to his camera you could see him covering war in the thick of things risking his life covering really difficult moments in people's life like being right there when someone is grieving a loved one at their funeral and he just has a way about him that's so gracious like the people accepted him to be there and they allowed him to be there and he gets so close but he's you can see that they've given him that space he's earned that space and that they want him there to tell their story and that they trust him to tell that story that is not very easy to do especially especially in different countries and different languages and different cultures but he just had a way about him you could see it when he talks but to see it in war photographer was extremely powerful and that really resonated with me that is something that I don't have and I haven't covered but that's something that I strive to be it's something I wanted to be it's something that I really admired about him and it's not like he's just done this a few times he's covered so many different tragic things throughout history through Decades of a career I mean he's covered he's covered War like actually there when war is happening and risking his life he's covered the aftermath of War he's covered poverty he's covered drug addiction he's covered pollution he's he's kind of covered everything just the longevity of his career to constantly be there and to tell these stories and to document them crystallize them in history for these giant magazines for time magazines and in other Publications I mean he's kind of shot for everybody but another thing that I also admire about him is not just the way he goes about it how gracious he is it's not just the fact that he seems to always be there it's also the art behind how he does it as well and he is a master of composition he is a wizard of light and shadows and he does it in a way that doesn't take away or Shield you from the sadness of these events the tragedy of these events uh I don't I I don't even know how to describe it he has a way to tell his stories in just such a beautiful way but again it's not protecting you from the reality it's not hiding how horrible these situations are uh so it's raw and Artful at the same time he just has a special way to combine those two things that I've never really seen anyone else do it at that level and for so long just want to take a quick moment to thank the sponsor for this episode printique I encourage you guys out there to print your images I don't care if you think your images are print worthy if you're a pro having an online print store that's how I use them if you're an amateur who just wants to print your own images for yourself to hang up on your walls or for a gift or if you just want to print some images to have around your house of your family of your pets like I do or of yourself whatever you want to do they are so easy to use the quality has been amazing I've been using them to fulfill all my orders from my online print store for like 5 years now and I've never had one single complaint that's amazing I don't have a complaint my customers haven't had a complaint I live in Vietnam I need to ship to people all around the US and Canada I can't be there to manage it I can't be there for quality control so I have to trust and it's not easy for me to trust however I trust them and I wouldn't have them as a sponsor if I didn't trust them so whatever your printing needs are I encourage you to use them I encourage you to use the link in description box below but most of all I just encourage you to print your work it's how photography is meant to be seen and you'll be happy that he did so and then personally how knct Way's work has affected me and impacted me I mean he really taught me not he wasn't my teacher just through leading by example seeing him speak looking at his work in Publications going to his website watching his Ted Talk watching War photographer he taught me the importance of of caring you know not just going into a story and shooting it just for the accolades for the awards or just because that's your job and going through the motions he taught me it's okay to care you can see when he talks about his stories how much he cares about these things how much of an impact that's had on his life I'm sure I can't even comprehend what that has done to him mentally and how he deals with that but just personally it just taught me that it's okay to care I think as a photojournalist you're kind of taught like oh you just go in you tell the story and you get out and I see a lot of people do that and I've seen enough photographers out there who who don't care that or care more about winning the awards who take ownership of stories that hoard stories that care more about their reputation Awards I've seen enough of them to know that he's not one of them uh and it's rare and it had a big impact on on me and I'll never compare myself to him and I never covered War but I have covered some tragic things and he did teach me it's okay to care and one of the most important ways that has impacted me I remember my first story ever out here in Vietnam I decided to do a story about victims of Agent Orange and I covered an orphanage and then I found one story about a little girl named new and she's autistic and she's a victim of Agent Orange and she can't see she can't hear she can't communicate and I remember doing that story for several weeks and my agent orange story was published in New week but I wasn't done with it I mean just last week this is 15 years ago just last week the money that we raised from those pictures from an exhibition that we did where we showed those pictures and I sold other pictures that people more likely to hang on their walls but we raised money one event one time raised enough money to keep her in this orphanage where she can get medical care where she can get food and shelter where she can live a better life I mean it's just a small thing but he taught me that it's okay or his work I should say taught me that it's okay to care uh and that you also have a responsibility telling these stories I I think or maybe I shouldn't say for you guys but it taught me have a responsibility to be a part of my stories afterwards and and I have and he does so through his books and through his talks and I do so at a smaller level we raise money and we go see the orphanage every year and we bring new home every year for T and again we do it every single year for 15 years now or something like that it's just been forever uh and even with my work on the Northern White Rhino and my other stories you know I give my images away I'm a part of their story as much as they'll allow me to be you know putting the stories out there sharing the images having them use the images to raise awareness or raise money it just had a huge impact on me so I don't know I mean I shouldn't claim that he's the best ever but for me even put aside the impact it's had on me personally I just think in like a century from now the work that he's done and how powerful it is and how much that he's captured all these stories all these things that unfortunately he said they should never be repeated they have been repeated I think it's important to have that work out there to have that work be there historically so people can look back and see and he's risked his life and self-sacrifice on his own head I don't know how much but I am just in awe of him as a photographer his photography is a historical work of art that's how I would describe his work historical works of art cuz that's what they are they're historical documentation but I also feel they're works of art on their own because of his Mastery of composition and light and shadows for my money he's the best he's the best that's ever done it uh let me know who you think is the best and who's inspired you I'd love to hear in the comment section I hope you guys enjoyed this episode thanks again to printique for sponsoring this episode don't forget to check out my online store at askot by justinm I've got a variety of presets that will not make you a better photographer but they will add some popular images I've got prints for sale shipping to your doorstep from printique I've also got a variety of online oneon-one classes aimed at helping you become a better photographer those are open to all levels of photographers interested in all genres of Photography thank you guys for tuning in don't forget to like share and subscribe and don't forget to have a wonderful day
