Asking for a little but getting so much more.

It’s been a while since I updated this blog, especially the 60 minutes images. It’s been a while because, well it’s been a while for me to actually photograph everyone. As of now I have photographed just about all the correspondences. With only Katie Couric (although she is no longer at 60 min) to go. I should have this done in June. That would make it just about a year from when I first photographed Bob Simon.  It has been a bit on the laborious side of things, not to mention expensive. Since up to now I had only been able to photograph one person at a time. However that all changed a couple of weeks ago when I went in to photograph Steve Kroft. I had been talking with his assistant Allie for what seemed like forever when suddenly I got the approval to photograph him. My usual assistants were not available and that was a bummer. However I was so lucky to find Peter through a friend named Dana. Peter was made to work like crazy that day but he also got a lesson in being ready that you don’t often get. As I’m photographing Steve, Jeff Fager walks in and in a pissed off kind of voice asks what’s going on? turns out he was only joking. It also turns out he is the Chairman of CBS News and the Executive Producer of 60 Minutes. This was the guy I wanted to make friends with if ever there was. He was very cool and seemed very interested in what I was doing and asked if I would mind photographing him. I was more then happy to do it. In his office he has the famous photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air and that can only mean one thing and that is he is a hockey fan. I tell him I’m from Toronto and he knew the rest. We talked hockey, news and his pride in his sons photo career. He then showed me the framed keys to Saddam Hussein’s house. Turns out he got them for being in first. WOW is what I was thinking and WOW is what I said. Very cool. After I photographed Jeff he asked me who else I wanted to shoot. I told him I would love to photograph Lara Logan. He says “You are in luck, she is in the building, I’ll get her up here. Who else?” I say Scott Pelley as it’s Scot that is taking over for Katie Couric. No problem he says and gets on the phone to call Scott up. what a day!!.

I started writing this post about a month ago and it’s mid July/11 now. Since the writing I photographed Lesley Stahl and just last week photographed Anderson Cooper as well. The kindness of everyone has been simply amazing from Jeff Fager to Lara Logan. Assistants, and correspondents have all helped to give me the opportunity to capture some truly extraordinary people who work on a true American treasure of a show.

There are some potentially amazing things that might come from this adventure, none of them I’m at liberty to talk about yet but fingers crossed and…….

Getting Traction

It’s been an amazing week or so. Last week Julie Grahame of aCurator.com was kind enough to host my “Going Home” story from Ethiopia on her amazing online magazine. Julie is one of the good ones. always believing in the power of photography and it’s ability to inspire encourage and do good. Julie is a rock n roll woman who’s opinion on photography I trust implicitly. Julie was of tremendous help editing down a body of work that was almost too big to look at. So if you are drawn to great photography check out her site.

Following the great feedback I received from aCurator I started looking into other places to show the story and I found http://www.socialdocumentary.net/ they describe themselves as “Using the power of photography to promote global awareness”.  Seemed like a good fit to me so after contacting them I received an email saying they would be happy to host my images and then the next day they  had it on the front page of their site. Two great sites reaching different audiences but most importantly spreading the word about this story and Obstetric Fistula.

Just when I thought it could not get any better I get an email from my friends at Virgin Unite telling me that they had added some of my images to the post that Natalie Imbruglia had made when she hijacked Sir Richard Branson’s blog. Together they founded the End Fistula campaign to help raise money and awareness to end this preventable and tragic affliction. Natalie took some time during International Woman’s day to talk about her experience with some amazing woman who are helping to fight and cure those suffering with fistula. So all in all a great week. Now I’m looking for a space to hold a show of these images and many more from Ethiopia. With a few more irons in the fire April is looking to be a good month as well.  Big thank you to Julie (aCurator), Glenn (Social Documentary), Christie and Jodie (Virgin Unite) Also to Margot and Gray for helping with the editing of the story and Jessica who is working away on a video edit and Ponzi who provided some amazing new footage. YOU ALL ROCK!!

Getting Andy

Last week thanks to the help of Morley Safer I was able to secure a portrait session with Andy Rooney. I will be doing the shot on the 25th of March but here is a little taste from the location scout. Always be prepared kids!!

The answer is definitely not blowing in the wind

Today in Elcho I spent about 3 hours talking to some of the elders about what THEY need vs what the Australian Gov’t thinks they need. Turns out it’s quite different. These people used to hunt, fish and fend for themselves. Now the gov’t just gives them money twice a month but without jobs or really much going on the money has little to no value. Gambling sometimes as much as $14,000.00 at a pop on cards is pretty good proof of that. There is hope though. A farm sits waiting to be cultivated to grow papaya, bananas and other assorted healthy food that can give this community some of it’s old pride back. Pride in ownership. Everyday I’m learning more but if they can get that farm back up then they can give some of the young people job. It would also save a lot of money from imported fruit, not to mention the waste of energy to actually bring this fruit from New Zealand. Oh and with fruit they may spend less on all the coke and chocolate that is so easy to get that is destroying their teeth and health.  I’ll let you all know as I learn more.

Australia, what am I doing here?

It seems as though I only just got back from Ethiopia and now here I am down under but at the top of Australia. Not even on the mainland anymore. I’m here on Elcho Island in the Northern Territory. This is some serious bush, not circa 1970′s playboy but more like crocs, snakes, bugs and all kinds of humidity and heat. I’m here with the Parfitt family. Thanks to Matt Parfitt who is the goalie on my hockey team. Matt’s brother Ben and family live here while Ben is a “copper”on Elcho. He is one of only 4 cops on an Island with about 2000 aboriginal inhabitants. There has been a lot of changes up here in the last bunch of years some good and some bad so it’s the job of the cops to make sure things are running smooth and to help maintain this island as a dry one. There are some great artists here Judy, Richard, Mavis to name a few. They have already been kind enough to let me follow them around and show me the ways of their art. The history here is long and the connection to the land is not so different to First Nations people in Canada and Native Americans. I’ve only started to shoot some shots here but I’m very happy with what is happening. There appears to be a lot of poverty here but it turns out money is not the problem at all……..

 

Getting Home: Day 3 Home at last.

“I grew up too fast and was made small and helpless and now I have become an adult again”

I can’t remember exactly where I read that quote but I know it had something to do with a young woman after she had gone through the tortures of an obstetric fistula. The words really spoke to me. I guess it can be the words of many people who have gone through so many different things, we can all relate. Perhaps that’s the point and what resonated with me. Often times we as people are faced with things that can break us and sometimes they do break us. What counts is getting yourself back together again. Maybe you lose someone close to you or maybe it’s a job lost, it could be an accident or a mental breakdown. It could be one of a zillion things that does it to YOU.

I have been so lucky in my life to see and experience so many amazing things and people both as a photographer and just as an everyday guy.

I’ve had about a month to think about how my trip to Ethiopia has affected me. I’m not the type of person who has the “aha moment” it’s more the slow revelation. I was talking with the founder of SalaamGarage today and we were discussing how the trip had affected me. She wants to make a difference, I think we all want to make a difference. I told her that She had made a difference to me by simply starting SG. Had I not heard about it, obviously I would of never gone on this trip and met the girls to take home. Of course there would of been no photos to show anyone. It would of ended right there. It did not though and even though as of right now the photos have just been seen by those who look at this blog or my Facebook page it has already made a difference. I can tell when people respond to them. I’ve heard someone say they had goose bumps from nose to toes. That was pretty cool. Making a difference and encouraging a change. That’s all I can hope to do. I’m so grateful for the experiences I had in Ethiopia. I learned about the hospital and the people that run it. To me what is more important is the human connections I made. We may live thousands of miles apart but in more ways then you can count we are all as one.

-david