nathan_hoefert Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>Things that are way above your skill, could they help you or if they are too large, could they hurt you. I'm an 18 year old college student. Have been into photography for a few years and am studying photojournalism. I am contemplating on traveling to Libya, Congo, and/or Uganda at the beginning of summer to report the conflict and crisis going on in those countries. Currently am looking for any way I could get sponsored or obtain grants to help financially support me in any way, shape, or form. I haven't been hearing about much in the Congo with all that civil fighting but I feel the actions there aren't getting recorded as well as they could. I know Libya is still rough. I just want to do something that is above me so I can basically say it was an experience and also illustrate that experience to the best of my ability and gain experience out of it and possibly a good way to get my name out there. If anyone on had any helping words of wisdom to my young ol' self, I would greatly appreciate it.<br /> Thanks again, Nathan</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelChang Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>While there's nothing wrong with learning through baptism by fire, I imagine half of photojournalism in a conflict zone is knowing how to get out of trouble. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemikel1 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>I'm sorry I can't help you. This is a photographic forum, but what you're talking about is not photography but a risky adventure. I'm old and have seen so many cases of death photojournalists in dangerous areas, so if you were my son, I can tell you I would never let you do that......<br> Take it easy .....</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>You might try and see if your local churches sponsor summer teachers/instructors on an exchange basis. A friend of mine went several years ago but it required a 2 year commitment.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_hoefert Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>I know that is may be dangerous in many ways but I'm trying to just get my feet wet. In the fact that, say I went threw with this and I'm there, I get ahold on a Ugandan newspaper and worked for them for the summer and anything like a freelance or a stringer. I know that I am young and I know that this may sound like an idiotic plot, but when is photojournalism not a risk. <br /> Some of the strongest images have come from conflict (in my opinion). Nothing in life is guaranteed so that is why I'd like to go out and swing for a home run. I am not forgetting about the high risk that this would entail, that is why I'm here asking because I know that the people on this forum know a great deal of information and experience.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshroot Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <blockquote> <p>but when is photojournalism not a risk.</p> </blockquote> <p>Photojournalism doesn't inherently equal "war photojournalism". Not everyone wants or needs to be in the Bang-Bang club. Lots of wonderful photojournalism requires no more risk than your average day.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.philwinterphotography. Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>No disrespect intended, but I would say you're nuts - unless you have the credentials of a recognized news organization, a ground crew to handle logistics and watch your back, contacts among local people, and finally, experience in avoiding nasty situations. Taking a photo of the wrong person could get you killed. Challenging yourself photographically is far different from challenging your survival skills.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnw436 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>Nathan,</p> <p>Read this:<br> <a href="http://www.michaelyon-online.com/">http://www.michaelyon-online.com/</a></p> <p>Make sure you go through the archives. </p> <p>Michael Yon's contact information is easily found on that site. I suggest you do just that and get some firsthand information. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_hoefert Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>@Josh - I know that not all photojournalism. Everything has its levels of difficulty and pace. I'm sorry that I did basically say all of photojournalism but I was aiming towards the risk side of things such as the conflict, crisis, ect..<br> @Phil - I'm not planning on going into a country blind. I am currently trying to find credentials that can help me in any way. I have some time to get my stuff together and give people my plot and see if they bite. I plan on learning as much as I can of what I can and cannot do.<br> @John - I appreciate the link. He's just another person added to my list of trying to contact and see if they can give me any wisdom in my goal. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah_fox Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>Nathan, this sounds like a great way to die. Why is it that so many young people lack respect for danger and death?</p> <p>How about chewing off something less dangerous and photographing a few local riots? At least you can go home to a safe bed at night. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tholte Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>Do it the smart way, sign up for a photo workshop (Santa Fe, Momenta etc.) and see how it is to live in a foreign country for a couple of weeks and then decide it's your cup of tea. You definitely don't want to go into the frying pan right away.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethe_fisher Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>I'm not as against it as some here, but it's likely because part of me wishes I'd done something crazy like that when I was younger. BUT, don't do it unless you have back up, know the languages and culture, and have a way to get out when you need to. Knowing the languages and culture will go a long way. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack_fisher1 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>Nathan,<br> You say you want "to swing a home run." Doesn't an aspiring baseball pro learn to make first base in the minors before stepping into the big time? Lots of good advice above. ...especially Tim's comment about the photo workshops.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_hoefert Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>@Sarah - I am not lacking respect. Like I've already stated, I am trying to gain experience and contacts. I'm not saying I want to be right on the front line. I just want to illustrate some of the scenarios. I'm looking at it as a challenge feel that it is the right thing to do for me as a person.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_hoefert Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>@Tim - That is something that I will probably look into. Thanks for the info.<br> @Bethe - I am currently learning the cultures of Africa as a whole, with all the subcultures. You're right about knowing an escape route, I feel that some people here think that I'm going to be possible immature about doing this. I really am wanting to go at this quite professionally.<br> @Jack - Maybe I worded that wrong, would you agree that doing something above you will help your career? I am looking as this as square one. After this can go about I can show people that my "young" self can do this. It can be done. <br> For the most part, I was hoping that I could gain more positive tips in the task I'm trying to accomplish. I know that it is a challenge, but it has been done. Who sets the standards who things that are too impossible. I'm here asking this forum for help. In the fact that it would be helpful for some people to show me a path of grants, sponsorships, contacts, ect.. Don't take that as a cry or help to do this assignment for me in any way. I'm doing all my homework too. It would just be nice to network. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah_fox Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 <p>Nathan, I don't mean to belittle you, but you have only two photos in your portfolio entitled "My first go at things." I only looked at the EXIF info on the first photo. It was shot with a Nikon D40 (an entry camera). The photo was shot at 1/4000s, f/3.5 (probably wide open?), at ISO 800. Judging from the photo, it was not intended to have a shallow depth of field. Everything about this photo and the settings choices you made (e.g. extremely high ISO AND excessively high shutter speed) screams to me that you are a rank beginner. (I'm sorry for my bluntness, but I think you need a bit of bluntness right now -- for your own good.)</p> <p>So now you aspire to take your entry consumer camera that you frankly don't know how to use, and insert yourself into a hostile environment that would make most seasoned professionals somewhat shaky at the controls. That's a bit like wanting to enter the Indianapolis 500 after getting your learner's permit. To say this is a mistake is an understatement of grand proportions.</p> <p>My best advice for you, both as a professional photographer (admittedly not a photojournalist, but I at least know photography) and as a parent of two boys who are probably around your age, is to learn your stuff here at home where your life won't be in danger while you waste time playing trial and error with aperture and image playback to get the properly exposed shot with all necessary elements in focus. This is truly where inexperience behind the lens could get you killed.</p> <p>Finally, I am troubled by the following: "Don't take that as a cry or help to do this assignment for me in any way." I suspect this thread somehow relates to a classroom assignment. I am compelled to offer you the above advice anyway, as I hope someone would do for one of my own boys if he had a similarly foolish notion.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_hoefert Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 <p>@Sarah - Well if you would look at my PN account you would see that the pictures that were taken nearly 2 years ago. Those pictures are far under me, my "rank beginner" work one might say.. The camera? That is what I borrowed when I first got into photography my sophomore year of high school. I'm a sophomore in college studying photojournalism. I would think that I could tell a F stop from a bus stop. I'm far from a rank beginner. I have my equipment payed off from shooting weddings and other paying jobs. Your "grand proportion" is doubt. </p> <p>Should I embrace the doubt from others or try to build my confidence in the goals I strive for?</p> <p>I'm sorry that my PN portfolio isn't updated every shoot I do or better yet has ever been updated, but since when has someone judged because of a forum websites portfolio. Try looking up a website, a flickr, ect.. With that said, don't be so quick to judge because of my PN portfolio or my camera skills because of an old picture. I wouldn't be on this forum or let alone paying money out of my own pocket for this degree if I wasn't serious about my path in life. Also since when is it an okay thing to call someone's dream a "foolish notion"?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_macpherson Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 <p>I went to a war zone in Africa at 17. I wandered around with a camera, naively, and was ill-prepared for the stuff that was going on. The politics were less clear-cut than I realized, the people with the guns were not friendly and did not want my camera pointing at them (many were mercenaries) and made that clear to me by pointing the barrel of their guns at me. It was scary, and I narrowly missed getting involved in an ambush at least once whilst on my own on the road (by narrowly I mean 15 seconds or so - I heard the gunfire behind me).</p> <p>In retrospect it was perhaps a wasted opportunity photographically, because now with the wisdom of many years of experience of working with and photographing people under my belt I would look at the situation differently, I would respond differently, and the focus of my photography would be specific and well considered. </p> <p>SO I'd say yes to you having an adventure. But a resounding no to you making this a do or die assault on 'recognition'.</p> <p>What would I be considering if I were you? I'd be following the stories of displaced people, looking at the effect of war on the neighbouring states, the problems of assimilation of refugees, the social and political upheaval, the effects on (our?) soldiers if any are serving there, and the effect of their absence on their families back home. I'd be exploring the less obvious and often hidden stories much closer to home, and not IN the war zones, but caused by the effects of that war. Put simply a photograph of a rock thrown into a pond will reveal a rock thats like any other rock, but the pattern formed by the ripples from the splash it makes creates very interesting and unpredictable patterns, that can elicit surprise and wonder. Forget the rock, follow the ripples.</p> <p>Any fool can get killed. It takes a sensible person to stay alive and do work of value that will make a difference, even if it seems 'tame'.</p> <p>With your amibition I'd hope for you to be one of the latter.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_macpherson Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 <p>ps sorry I've not got any contacts I can offer. But keep looking and something will turn up!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_ghio Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 <p>National Geographic.<br> Write up a proposal and have a go, you may be surprised.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike dixon Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 "I am currently learning the cultures of Africa as a whole, with all the subcultures." What do you mean by "learning the cultures of Africa"? Reading books? Watching movies? Learning a culture by reading books about it is comparable to learning to race motorcycles by reading books about it. Do you have any experience being immersed in a foreign culture? Do you have any experience dealing with violent conflict? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_bellenis Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 <p>Nathan - I'm torn on this one...</p> <p>One the one hand I have to agree with every word that Sarah wrote. You are clearly pretty inexperienced as a photographer and thinking of jumping in way over your head. She is right by saying that you need more experience in all areas, and that you shouldn't be entering the Indy 500 when you've just achieved your learners permit. As a mom she is also right to be concerned about your safety and your ability to survive in a hostile environment. As a dad, I echo her sentiments.</p> <p>On the other hand, I found myself in Iran in the middle of the revolution in 1978/9 as a teenager and I muddled through, took a bunch of photographs and managed to keep myself relatively out of trouble. Although I was terrified and clearly out of my depth I don't regret a moment and it was something of a formative experience. I have since traveled all over the world (now shooting purely commercially and not in war zones) and I know that my experiences made me more confident, capable and were - on balance - a good thing for me.</p> <p>The bottom line though, is that the areas you have chosen are simply too hot for me to say it's a good idea. You should indeed work your way up, build a reputation, experience and a support network before jumping into the deep end. If you were my own kid though, I'd chain you to the dining table until you decided on a different career path!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickArnold Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Nathan. If you want to go to Africa, go ahead. You might get yourself killed or maimed, but that is your choice. You are an adult at eighteen. As I have told my own kids once you are eighteen everything is optional. There are a lot of eighteen year olds getting themselves blown up in the middle east as we speak. They are incredibly brave. As a retired military officer I knew a lot of fine eighteen year olds. This is your choice as you are a man now. I suggest you think like a man. I am a Viet veteran and maybe your attitude will change once you get the living hell scared out of you a couple of times if you live through them but that is up to you. At a minimum be prepared to be miserable, tired and scared for periods of time. I would say, however, that a grown man would spend some time on assessing and preparing for the risks you intend to take. Knowledge is power and, believe me, ignorance can kill you. So press on, you have some noble goals. Seek advice from people you respect. Find some people who have been there. Talk to them. I was in charge of an organization that gave grants. We did not give them to people without real experience, knowledge and that could write and defend a professional proposal. If you are at a University there are probably plenty of people there who could advise you on proposal writing. If you are using this thread as a means to fulfill a class assignment that may negate some of the credit I imputed to you above. In any event go to it but be intelligent about how you do it. I wish you success as you at least are showing an incipient urge to show initiatives which you want to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 <p> In my previous life (before wife and kids) I wanted to just drop everything I had pick up the camera and travel the world living on the good will of people I would meet. This fantasy was chasing me for few more years, then I realized that I had a lot to loose (my life) and it could be simply because I didn't understand the culture or the language of a certain country I would stay in. If you want to do it learn a lot about the customs of the places you want to go to. Work for an established paper go from there. 18 is too young to get killed wait a bit longer.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah_fox Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 <blockquote> <p> Also since when is it an okay thing to call someone's dream a "foolish notion"?</p> </blockquote> <p>It's OK when someone is sincerely trying to prevent you from losing your life. If you perceive me as wanting to belittle you, you're dead wrong.</p> <p>You're not the first young person to have a foolish notion. I won't discuss the foolish notions of one of my sons here (he'd get mad about it), but I'll discuss my own. I was an aeronautics nut as a kid. My own dream was to design and build my own ultralight aircraft and fly it from coast to coast. I was indeed capable of designing an aircraft that would fly. My parents knew that about me. I had designed and flown quite a few very large model aircrafts and had even experimented with one wing design feature that is only now starting to see some research at Langley. Rather, their concern was simply that I would get myself killed. They discouraged me however they could, and that bought time. Eventually 60 Minutes did a segment on ultralight aircraft safety, in which they sent a professional pilot up in one of the things. He reported back, via UHF, that the little plane didn't fly too badly, as they filmed him from the ground. Then, right there on camera, before a national audience, one of the wings broke, and he spiraled to his death. I watched in utter shock. Being a somewhat intelligent kid (I think), I abandoned my foolish notion right then.</p> <p>So this isn't a "me smart; you dumb" thing. I was lucky enough to survive my various foolish notions, as was everyone else who is giving you advice similar to mine. I could also tell you stories of friends of mine who DID NOT survive their foolish notions and died in their youth. We're just trying to help you to survive to be an old man.</p> <p>I REALLY like what John MacPherson said:</p> <blockquote> <p>Any fool can get killed. It takes a sensible person to stay alive and do work of value that will make a difference, even if it seems 'tame'.<br> With your amibition I'd hope for you to be one of the latter.</p> </blockquote> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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