7. What has been your most interesting or dangerous assignment?

I've been in a couple of car wrecks while on assignment, once driving in bad weather and the other when a guide fell asleep at the wheel. In rural parts of South America, the roads are pretty rough and the bridges are even rougher. I've been in a helicopter that overheated and had to set down on a highway, and an airplane that went into a high speed stall, complete with screaming pilot (very disconcerting). While I try not to do anything terribly stupid, I have put myself in risky situations while working at heights, in swamps and with animals that have sharp teeth.

Most of the time, it was my own stupidity that led to the unfortunate incident. I try to learn from my mistakes and not get killed. You can’t take any more pictures if you’re dead.

When working with wildlife and nature in general, it is absolutely crucial to respect your subject and surroundings. This means the usual outdoors etiquette (leave everything as you found it and take your trash out with you), and with wildlife it means disturbing your subject as little as possible. Before you even set foot in the field, research your subjects and talk to people who know the area you'll be working in. Do your homework and don’t waste the time of the people who are helping you out. Show up when you’re supposed to, and ALWAYS send the prints that you promise them. Learn what the rules of conduct are, what a respectful distance is, what behavior to avoid, and what the "back-off" signal is. To get good photos of any animal, doing your homework is critical. The goal is to safely get good photos of your subject behaving normally, not showing aggression or running away from you.

And even if you do your best, wildlife is still unpredictable. I've been charged by musk oxen and grizzly bears while on assignment, and either one of them could've very easily killed me. But in reality, very few people are killed or wounded by wild animals. To give you some perspective, an average of 15-20 people die in the u.s. each year from domestic dog bites, while only one person per year is killed by a bear on the entire North American continent.

8. Has the recent recession impacted on your business, and how have you dealt with it?

We've always tried to maintain a variety of income streams (shooting, stock,speaking, products) so that has helped. The recession has taken a bite out of a couple of them, but we are able to make up for it in other areas .However, long term, it's not the recession that worries me. It's that contention the web needs to be free, and yet it isn't free to go out and shoot. Honestly don't know how journalists will make it going into the future. Even more worrisome is that, when it comes to fine investigative reporting and photo essays, the public won't know what they're missing. We need great investigative journalism to keep people on the up and up. The Founding Fathers knew this and insisted on a free and thriving press as a critical 'Fourth Estate' of government. The loss of this worries me most of all.

9. What is the one piece of advice that you would give to other budding photographers?

My advice is this: work hard, preferably for someone or some organization who will help you out in the business. This could be a newspaper, website, anything. Run a ton of images through your camera. Every new situation you shoot has the potential to make you better. Listen to your editor and respect his or her ideas about how you can improve your work. Learn to accept criticism and use it to better your work. Photography is a tough business, and editors don't always have time to handle photographers with kid gloves when giving suggestions. In the same vein, look at photos thoughtfully. When you find another photographer whose work you admire, take time with their images to figure out what makes them tick.

Generally, it's important to be curious about life, to be pleasant and to try and make sure you're in photography for the right reasons. If you're in it for money and recognition, you're going to be sorely disappointed especially when starting out. Some people shoot great pictures for years and are only "discovered" after they die. If you're in it to make the world a better place by photographing and documenting important subjects, making people happy with your images, and making others see the world in a different way, chances are you'll enjoy a long and healthy career.

As mentioned above, persistence is key. Many of the best shots come at the end of the day when you're worn out and ready to pack it in. If you leave early, you'll miss out on some of the best opportunities. If you really want to do well in photography, you have to go after it with all you've got.

As for a good school, it depends on what kind of photography you want to pursue.In any event, the degree doesn't matter as much as the person receiving it. As for actually getting a job in photography, it is a bit rocky now, and I'm sorry to have to say it because photography is so dear to me. Basically the scenario is this: to start from scratch now and actually earn a living, you have to be willing to shoot what folks can't get for free off the Internet. This often means shooting weddings and formal portraits. Almost everything else, from polar bears to penguins, is available for free online, with more being added every day. All that said, if you're really excited about this, I say go for it. I still believe that those few who are truly passionate will find a way to make a living doing what they love.

10. Finally, how do you think photography will change in the future, if at all?

See above. Beyond that, the great journalists will have to figure out a way to get paid for what they do. Maybe it's grant funding. Maybe it's family money. There is so much work to be done. I just hope that society will value what we do and let us continue to do it. I think everyone in the creative arts feels that way right now.

Biography

A life-long Nebraskan, Joel Sartore brings a sense of humor and a mid-western work ethic to all of his National Geographic Magazine assignments. Two decades with the National Geographic Society have allowed him to cover everything from the remote Amazon rain forest to beer-drinking, mountain-racing firefighters in the United Kingdom.

Joel is committed to conservation, especially in the Great Plains where he has lived his whole life. In his time with National Geographic, he has focused on endangered species and land use issues. He is co-founder of the Grassland Foundation, and a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

He has written several books including Photographing Your Family, Face to Face with Grizzlies, and Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky. His most recent book, Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species is now available through this website.

Besides the work he has done for National Geographic, Joel has completed assignments for Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and contributed to numerous book projects. Joel and his work have been the subject of several national broadcasts including National Geographic’s Explorer, the NBC Nightly News, NPR’s Weekend Edition, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 and an hour-long PBS documentary. He is also a regular contributor on the CBS Sunday Morning Show with Charles Osgood.

http://joelsartore.com - http://rarethebook.com

Your Comments