TIMES Magazine
Interview with Marcus Bleasdale
Photographer - KB Nosterud
Source - http://www.fotoevidence.com/marcus-bleasdale
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Marcus Bleasdale after our photojournalist of the year banquet dinner. The conversation started off with how his wife was doing, but it quickly led to some very interesting topics. Marcus has risked his life for years while capturing some of the most riveting photos. He has written several books, and his accolades show how well accomplished he is. Once the conversation began to get good, I couldn't resist asking him if I take this opportunity to write a piece to reflect his journey. He smiled and said he would love to tell his story. Marcus Bleasdale has changed the world through his magnificent work; here's his opportunity to tell you how!
Bill Garvey - So Marcus, tell us how you got started into the world of photojournalism, and who did you work for?
Marcus Bleasdale - (Laughing) "Well an old girlfriend wanted a camera for her birthday, so I bought her a camera and she was very happy, obviously, and then maybe six or seven months later we split up. We had been living together and the box with the camera stayed in the wardrobe." I picked it up one day and started playing around with it.
BG - Wait so your first experience with a camera was because of an ex-girlfriend, priceless! Go on...
MB - Yeah, I was a wealthy banker making an absorbent amount of money, living very comfortably. But I was really interested in that camera. "I took photographs of cobwebs in nice light. I’d get up at six o’clock at the weekend and wander through nice sunlight taking pretty pictures of nature." Some people told me I was horrible but I bloody loved it.
BG - Go ahead and tell those people who thought you were awful who you've worked for recently.
MB - Well "I regularly work with the Human Rights Watch, Medecins Sans Frontieres, and other NGOs to highlight health and human rights issues. I love to cover issues that are under-reported by the media. A lot of my work has found its way into the US Senate, US House of Representatives, and the United Nations." Lately though, most of my work comes through the company VII.
BG - So that's how your photos got disseminated out there so well. Pretty good for a guy that got started because his ex walked off and left the camera behind.
MB - Thanks, I'm extremely happy that my work has made an impact in the world.
BG - What era do you consider yourself to work in? Do you think the world recognizes it as a profession?
MB - Well in about 2008 I knew I didn’t want to be a banker any more. So I began my journey into the world of photography around that time. I was fortunate enough to win the UNICEF Photographer of the year in 2004, so to answer your question I would say yes; they recognize my new job as a profession. My father on the other hand, he would tell you I was having a mid-life crisis in my 20's.
BG - If your father was giving you such a hard time, you must of had some serious motivation to walk away from that high paying job.
MB - "To find the motivation to resign and do something else was difficult, so I was always putting it off, but I just looked at this guy, and something inside my head clicked. I walked into my boss’s office and resigned. I didn’t want to be part of something that could take a massacre and turn it into dollars. It repulsed me. But once I started into this new found world, waking up, jumping in a car to go and take pictures in a refugee camp – I loved the freedom, the energy, the rawness of it. It showed me a part of life that I’d been exposed to quite a lot when I was living with my mum, and trying to make life work, living on the edge and not having enough money for anything."
BG - Wow, that's really inspiring. So what type of equipment have you used to capture all of these glorious pictures?
MB - I love the Canon EOS 5D system. Thank God for its durability and allowing me to keep shooting even after my camera fell into a lake.
BG - Yikes, if you didn't have that type of technology you would have lost some great shots.
MB - Yeah technology has come a long way for sure. I couldn't take an old Kodak Brownie Box and drop in a lake and expect great results. So thank you Canon for giving me the opportunity to be a clutz and still get the job done!
BG - Nice. What do you consider to be the greatest ethical dilemma that you've ever encountered as a photojournalist?
MB - (Sigh) That's a loaded question. "About 1,250 people die each day because of the conflict in Congo. These include children, dismembered UN soldiers, and rape victims. On one occasion I saw 16 children under two shot dead. It’s not easy to come back from Congo and fit back into normal life." I think after seeing the things I've encountered it leaves a lasting impression on you. You want the world to know what's going on, and my work has created some amazing changes. "I just wish I could be in more places than one at the same time." I wish I didn't have to be away from my wife and family so much. "The life a photojournalist can be lonely at times."
BG - Yeah I can imagine. What do you feel like one of the greatest changes your work has accomplished?
MB - Well, "in 2004 HRW released a report called the curse of gold with images from the conflict and also images from the gold mines which were fueling the conflict. Together with the great work of Human Rights Watch influenced change. This report forced a Swiss company Metalor technologies to stop buying Congolese gold in Uganda and therefore nearly $100 million dollars of funding for the warlords dried up overnight. The war stopped in a matter of months." That is probably one of the greatest things I've felt like I contributed too.
BG - With where you've come from and everything you've seen, do you feel like there are any biases you might have?
MB - (Laughing) Coming from the luxurious lifestyle I've once had. I could easily say that I feel like many people are concentrated on their own lives, and could quite frankly give a damn about what's going on in other areas of the world. I feel like my biases might be part of my driveness. Honestly, I feel like the media wants to cover what it wants to most the time. So I get out there "to record injustice, to try to highlight human rights abuses and to encourage policy change." Am I bias? Hell yeah, but at least I let it fuel me to create positive change in the world.
BG -Speaking of your photographs, lets talk about a few of them shall we?
MB - Sure which ones do you want to cover?
BG - The one of the child soldier riding his bike back to the base in northeastern Congo. What where you going for here?
Photographer - Marcus Bleasdale
Source - http://www.fotoevidence.com/marcus-bleasdale
MB - Well I wanted to capture the subject's expression. The youth of the boy trudging through the dirt path. He appears tired but he must ride on with his weapon to his destination. I also wanted to keep it simple. There was plenty of features in the background, but not enough to take away from the boys determination. I could have chosen a couple different ways to obscure the background but I chose to leave it as is, like I usually do to let viewers see the whole content.
BG - I can totally see where you were coming from. The one with the child gold miner in Watsa, northeastern Congo. Do you consider that to be one of your memorable photos?
Photographer - Marcus Bleasdale
Source - http://www.fotoevidence.com/marcus-bleasdale
MB - Memorable yes, one of my favorites no. This to me highlighted what was going wrong in the Congos. I left the image sharp and in focus to accent the young child digging. While capturing the texture of the dry and unforgiving dirt piles all around him. If you look at the contrast in the shot you'll notice how the brighter areas have the workers on them in the background. It was hard to see what these children were put through, but I'm fortunate the world actually cared enough to step in.
BG - Yeah I see what you mean about the workers in the lighted areas. I didn't notice at first until you mentioned the contrast. Great shot. Speaking of great shots, the one of the homeless children, with the young boy smiling in the water. How do you describe your style on that one?
Photographer - Marcus Bleasdale
Source - http://www.fotoevidence.com/marcus-bleasdale
MB - I love how the use of lines worked out perfectly in this shot. The dark straight lines on the back wall was the perfect height to run even with many of the children's heads. Also I love the boy smiling off to the side, leaning against the pillar. The quality of light was where I needed it to be in this setting. It allowed me to engage viewers with the dramatic expression on the boy's face. The depth of the field allows viewers to concentrate on the main subject being the young boy in the water. However, the objects in the back were left visual enough to let viewers wander through the photo catching new details along the way.
BG - Last one, and this one is one of my favorites. Not because of what it is, simply because it captures the innocence and ignorance of a small child holding a gun. You know which one I'm talking about?
Photographer - Marcus Bleasdale
Source - http://www.nyphotoreview.com/NYPR_REVS/NYPR_REV2205.html
MB - Oh yeah, I know exactly which one your talking about. This one has many different viewpoints from people around the world. Overall I feel sorrow for the children caught up in the mix with these wars. "Most of these children are forcefully recruited and made to follow orders under death threat. The boy’s smile as he holds his rifle suggests the loss of childhood innocence in a world where violence is an accepted fact of life. By putting the main subject at the forefront and using shallow depth of field, all we see is a boy who has become desensitized to the horror and consequence of taking a life." This shot really stirs your feelings as to what is going on this country. I've probably received more emails on this one than any other.
BG - Since you brought up emails, what type of affect do you believe your photographs have made on society?
MB - " I use the camera to record injustice, to try to highlight human rights abuses and to encourage policy change. I always I feel it is more important to focus on how war affects the populations touched by the conflict. The consequences of war are always so much more important than war itself. I think my photographs tell the stories of the victims caught in the midst of these wars." Society has taken these photos and used them to support action in the US Senate, United Nations, so I have to believe they have brought an awareness and positive change to the world.
BG - I have to agree, I've searched the web for people who have negative things to say about you, and I found some people who have some very conflicting feelings toward your work. Are you ready for this one?
MB - Yeah,this out to be interesting.
BG - At http://duckrabbit.info/blog/2009/12/we-never-knew/ - They wrote "There’s undeniable beauty and depth in the work of photographers like Marcus Bleasdale but all too often photo editors, in their insatiable blood lust for the edge, pick out the most despairing shots. Even Bleasdale takes ‘darkness’ as the title of his book. Ultimately, out of context, these singularly negative images have become a cliched, two dimensional and self defeating form of journalism, because all they ask of us is to pity these wretched people and admire the artistry of the photographer." How do you respond to that viewpoint?
MB - Yikes, well they are entitled to their opinion, but I would have to completely disagree. If you look at most of my work you can tell I don't stage photos. My images are what they are. People faced with suppression, starvation, often times orphaned, I could go on. Obviously I'm not doing this for the money, I'm doing this to raise awareness in an often ignorant world. I don't say that offensively rather it's just that many people really don't know what's going on across the globe. "Information and education is key to change and I hope that my work will become an influential part of that education and policy change going forward." That's my only desire, not that people admire my "artistry".
BG - That's a great closing statement. Let me ask you one side-note question though?
MB - Oh no!
BG - No more loaded questions I promise. My degree is in Management and Technology, how do you feel that relates to your career?
MB - That's it, oh thank God. (Laughing) I would say many things can be related in life. As for management, there are many times I have to budget out what I'm going to be doing. I'm sure you've taken accounting and economics and both of them come into play everyday when you think about it. If you don't have a plan, then your planning to fail they say. Technology on the other hand, I already told you before the Canon camera saved my shots after goofy me dropped it in the lake. Technology is imperative in the world of photojournalism. Keep studying up on technology so my job will get easier.
BG - That's all I got Marcus, thanks for your time.
MB - No problem Bill, thanks for caring.
Sources -
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4015461/Career-change-Banker-turned-photojournalist.html
2. http://www.fotoevidence.com/marcus-bleasdale
3. http://learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/interviews/canon_interviews_vii.shtml
4. http://www.marcusbleasdale.com/
5. http://www.nyphotoreview.com/NYPR_REVS/NYPR_REV2205.html
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Bleasdale
7. http://duckrabbit.info/blog/2009/12/we-never-knew/
No comments:
Post a Comment