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Spencer Platt - Photographer in Focus (14-Jan-03)

Getty Images News Photographer Spencer Platt is about to head for Bahrain to cover the build-up of US forces in the Persian Gulf. Spencer has had a love of news ever since he can remember, which is why he turned to photography: "for me, its the best medium there is for pursing that passion, of telling a story and being involved in it." He feels

great photojournalism is only achieved when photographers have true insight into the history and context of the events that they are trying to capture. He is an avid reader of history and literature. The images speak for themselves!

Where are you based?
Manhattan: working out of Getty Images' New York Office.

Where did you grow up?
Westport, Connecticut.

Age
32 years old.

Which Getty Images Collection do you shoot for?
Getty Images News & Sport.

Awards won:
2 POYi (Picture of the Year International) Awards, for photojournalism.
2 Associated Press Awards.

What other things have you done, outside photography?
"I was always interested in news from a very young age, whether that be writing about, or photographing it. When I was at college - majoring in English - I worked for the college newspaper as a features writer. So, while it's not photography, it is very related.

"And I still do write whenever possible. Recently, Getty Images sent me to a media boot camp in Virginia, where a course is run to get news reporters and photographers familiar with working alongside the military in case we have go out on missions with them - you know, with a view to the possible upcoming conflict. I did a story on that for an online photojournalism website."

Click here to read Spencer's story about the media boot camp on The Digital Journalist.

What, in your opinion, makes a good photojournalism?
"Covering a story in a way that the public can comprehend it, understand it; and in a way that stays true to the story, that's what I've always tried to do. In one sense photojournalism is an art, then there's the journalistic side, and I've always found the challenge in trying to weld those two together: to be creative but not to loose sight of the story.

"Good photojournalism, in my belief, is having an understanding and appreciation of the world and most of all, an appreciation of history. Of course, you need to understand the fundamentals of a camera and photography and these days, computers and technology. But what is absolutely imperative is to have an understanding of humans, of society, to be able to judge where an event or conflict is likely to go based upon your appreciation of the past. Without this you're not going to have a compassion in your work. That's what I tell younger people who come up to me and ask about becoming a photojournalist, 'first get a decent education'.

"This more intellectual aspect is becoming ever more important, especially at a time when our medium is being increasingly challenged by video and television. We have to become more 'thinking people' behind the camera, not just picture takers. We have to draw a line between our medium and video and television by producing imagery that is intellectually stronger. It requires great rigor to be able to tell a story in one single image."

What is the most demanding shoot you have ever done?
"Without doubt, 9/11 - you immediately knew that this was the most important shoot of your life, the most important news day of your life. Obviously there was none of the usual preparation, even in our wildest imagination - that's what working in news is all

about. One of the toughest things about this profession, about being a journalist, is how you handle situations like this without becoming callous, and it's very easy for that to happen when you're trying to do a job, to get the picture."

Can you name a favorite picture, yours and/or someone else's?
"For me, a recent picture that I like is one I took of an old man staring at a black and white photo of the twin towers taken right after they were constructed in about 1970. It was taken at ground zero where they have a huge photo display of the history of the World Trace Center. My interpretation of the photo is: here is a man who lives in New York City, he's probably eighty or ninety years old, and he's seen the towers go up, and, in a sense, the soul of the city has now been lost. For me, the picture captures a sadness and a concern for where we are going. Again, for me, it's a very telling picture of New York today. It's a very quiet photo, but also profound.

"In terms of someone else's, Paula Bronstein's (Getty Images News Photographer) picture of a young Afghan girl by herself, squatting on her haunches, in a mental institution. It's a stunning photo and attracted a lot of sympathy and attention worldwide."

Click here to view Paula Bronstein's image, chosen for MSNBC's "The Year in Pictures 2002".

Who, or what, are the major influences upon your work?
"Pretty conventional really, you know, Cartier-Bresson. Again, going back to the more intellectual side of photography, I think he is one the great thinkers of

photojournalism. If it wasn't for him, there is no way we would have the recognition that we do today.

"In terms of war photography, obviously people like Robert Capa and Larry Burrows - probably my current favorite photographer. He was such a professional; he could shoot everything, whether it be a story on a monastery or the hardest battles in Vietnam - where he died in his late forties. He was real gentleman, not one of these swaggering macho guys in it all for himself, which we have plenty of in this profession. He was an all-round superb journalist, not just a great photographer, he would really understand a story; he would really get to know a story; he spent time there and became concerned with it. There is nothing of the jetting in for a week or two weeks, getting the grisly photo and getting the hell out again. This was a guy that was really committed to what he was doing, and I think without doubt, he was, and is, the greatest photojournalist of our time."