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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
To Go, Or Not To Go...
Greg Kendall-Ball, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 7:13 PM on 02.03.10 |
->> I work as a freelancer in Abilene, Texas. It's not exactly a news hotspot, mostly sports, features, the occasional fire.
Last week, I was |thisclose| to buying a plane ticket to Santo Domingo, DR and trucking across the border to a clinic where people I know are working. I had clients lined up back here that would have paid me for my images and stories I would have sent back: the local newspaper, one of the local universities with alums on the ground working, and my alma mater, who also had alums working.
So, I had people willing to pay me for my work, but no one was "sending" me down there.
Ultimately, I decided not to go. The only person who wanted me there was me. I could have done some good reporting on the local NGOs and the work of the college students, and would have gained valuable experience as well. But, it just didn't feel right. It felt too much like going to get some "disaster porn" for my portfolio.
The question, then, is this: as a freelancer, how do you make that decision about whether to go to a crisis area or not. Do you go knowing you will be working on spec, hoping to find outlets to pay for your stuff and cover expenses? Or do you only go with a contract in hand, on behalf of an NGO, newspaper, magazine, etc.?
How have you guys who have done this before come to a decision?
Thanks for the feedback-gkb |
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Greg Kendall-Ball, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 1:19 PM on 02.04.10 |
->> Thanks, PJ...looks like I'll need to set aside some time to dig through the discussion on that link!
gkb |
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Mike Janes, Photographer
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Attica | NY | USA | Posted: 1:58 PM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> Not speaking to disaster areas because I never shot them, but for any trip where it's like you mentioned just weigh the upside and downside and follow the gut. Know several times I've taken a chance and lost and others didn't take the chance and lost out knowing after the fact of what I would have gotten. There's a video out there I remember seeing about people who do just what you mentioned - pay for their way to the disaster/war area and sell after the fact, so they could make nothing or do well in usage. |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 2:10 PM on 02.04.10 |
->> I know you said you decided not to go, but this is for anyone else who might be thinking of going to this, or an future disaster areas.
Don't even consider going unless you can afford to be TOTALLY self sufficient. If you can take enough: Food, water, batteries, toiletries, etc, then you can start to think about whether it's for you or not. You definitely don't want to become part of the problem.
Also keep in mind you will need a way to transmit your photos from an area with possibly no or limited phone lines, (both land lines and cell). This trip is going to cost you thousands of dollars. I can't see how you could recoup those costs with what you'd make from the local newspaper and a couple of colleges. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 3:34 PM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> Bob is spot on. I had a guy call me the other day who was going and he wanted to know how many wifi hotspots there were in Port au Prince. I thought he was kidding. If you haven't done the research to know there is barely phone service much less internet connections you should really maybe take a trip to belize or cozumel. Another post I read somewhere else suggested people who want to go try and hook up with an NGO. I will also tell you that may be a problem since most of the NGO's brought a slew of photographers with them. Just in the hospital compound I was in the Red Cross had about five different photographers. And one thing to be aware of...it's been ten days since I was there but the medical staffs were VERY VERY worried about an outbreak of cholera and typhoid. You can get a typhoid shot but there is really no protection from cholera. And then there is malaria. If you take the drugs it is recommended you start three weeks before you go to a country with rampant malaria. So ask yourself. Is going to Haiti worth risking your life? If you get typhus or cholera will you have a way to be airlifted out or will you just become part of the problem? And as Bob asked, can you afford the thousands of dollars it might cost you? And is it worth the potential emotional damage it could cause you,the PTSS? Just some things to think about. |
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Brian Dowling, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 3:45 PM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> I used to think Chuck was a grumpy old man, but everyone respects him on the board for a reason. My friend went to India and contracted malaria. He had to stay in an Indian hospital for three months. I don't know what your chances of getting the disease are in Haiti, but even at a 5-10% chance, I would be scared beyond anything to be stuck in a Haitian hospital for a few months before immigration let you back into the United States. |
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Luke Sharrett, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Washington | DC | United States | Posted: 4:10 PM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> Chuck, do you mean to tell me that McDonalds and Starbucks down there in Haiti aren't wifi equipped??? |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 4:19 PM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> Luke, that would be affirmative. I was going to make one of my famous smartassed comments but actually though it inappropriate to do so. |
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Luke Sharrett, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Washington | DC | United States | Posted: 4:50 PM on 02.04.10 |
| ->> Chuck, not my intention to make light of the situation in Haiti, rather the folks who paid no attention to the people and their plight before the quake. |
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Greg Kendall-Ball, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 7:10 PM on 02.04.10 |
->> I've worked in IDP camps in Uganda, rural hospitals in Rwanda and grew up in South Africa. I've had malaria and other tropical parasite goodies hitch a ride home many times. I've gone into less-than-comfortable spots before, but as a minister, not as a journalist.
I would like to believe that if I had been sent on assignment, I could have handled the intensity of working in a crisis situation, both physically and mentally. But, I'll never really know for sure unless I do it.
But, as a freelancer, I guess Mike Janes is right- look soberly at the up- and down-sides and then make a gut call. This time, the gut said no. Maybe next time it will feel different. |
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