The World in Focus Blog
Last week I spent some time roaming Joshua Tree National Park and photographing the epic Joshua Trees. If you’ve never been there before, let me tell you it is every bit as good as you might think it is. I loved it. I took a few images that are going to make it into my Great American West print portfolio, so if you’d like to have an image from that collection, please put an order in. Nothing would make me prouder than having one of these amazing trees grace your wall.
I used to think that saying was true. But…it’s not. Turns out people do judge books by the cover. Which is why Testimony Africa got a bum rap (unless you read it, and then you know why I chose the cover image and that the book contains some really good information on development in the hardest places in the world).
But I digress.
I have written a new book called Witness, and for this one I shifted the focus of everything. It’s not a book about African development. It’s not a book about other people’s incredible stories. And it certainly doesn’t have a hard image on the cover.
This book is a memoir, a retrospective of what I’ve seen and learned in 20 years in the world’s toughest places. It’s big, bold and beautiful. Aspirational and positive. It’s a treasure trove of wisdom from those experiences that I want you to read and experience along with me. And based on the cover, I think you’ll be proud to have this one on your coffee table. And give to friends. It’s coming soon. Read (and see) an excerpt now! Then please spread the word!
Most people know my work as deeply ingrained in the non-profit, humanitarian world. And that’s true. However, during my career shooting up close to life’s most intractable issues in the world’s toughest places, I’ve also shot an incredible amount of very cool and amazing commercial and destination event work. In the interest of not getting completely typecast, I want to highlight some of this work. Take a look at some of the selects below, and by all means holler if your company could use some commercial work itself.
Recently, given all the time off I have had from regular assignments due to COVID-19, I have been going through my archives looking for iconic images of the American West. I found a few. I would love for you to take a look and see if anything registers to you. In the days ahead I will be adding more, but for now enjoy these…and if you see fit to keep a brother in business, maybe pick up a print or two. Referrals welcome!
Earlier this year I went on assignment with Water Mission to Indonesia (again) to shoot some of their program work there. I always love these assignments, and I come back with loads of usable images. One of the things I committed to doing with my clients many years ago was to cover everything I possibly could in each location they send me. So–I’m looking for those moments of real human emotion, yes, but I’m also trying to exhaust the possibilities in each scene so that the work gets used. Wides, mediums, closeups, weird angles, whatever I can to give them the most bang for their buck. I really have very little control over how these images get used, but my hope is that they do, and setting up the client with many solid images, some iconic, increases the odds that they will use the work. That’s just good business, and the best way to increase the reach of how the images can affect change. Here are a few samples from that shoot:
