David Burnett

Image Source:http://news.streetroots.org/2011/08/18/photographer-david-burnett-talks-about-exchanging-views-street-paper-vendors

CAREER PATH
David Burnett is a Washington, DC based photojournalists and one of the more accomplished photojournalists in the history of the profession. He graduated from Colorado College in 1968 with a B.A in Political Science and began work as a freelancer for Time and Life magazines. He started off in D.C then moved to Miami, then spent two years in Vietnam before he came home to do what he is best known for being a co-founder of Contact Press,a New York City based firm and one of the worlds largest firm of Photojournalists. His career has taken him all over the world. Some of his better known works are a series called "The Presidents" in which he photographs presidents throughout time (he has been doing this for four decades) and "Soul Rebel" a series on Bob Marley which became a published book, as well as "44 Days" a history of the 1978-1979 Iranian Revolution.

Photo by: David Burnett
Image Source:http://www.davidburnett.com

I touched on Burnett's motivations a little bit in a earlier post, but ill go a little further into them here. What he describes as his main motivation is that he looks at every new assignment as "a challenge".  He has said that he has doubted himself constantly, but always strives to take on new challenges and uses that motivation to overcome his doubts. That's a strong statement I think, acknowledging your insecurities but at the same time knowing that you have the motivation to overcome them. People were especially skeptical of him, and he of himself as well before he did a series at the 2012 London Olympics with a large formatted camera. The photographs were speed graphic photos, and many thought it was an odd choice for Burnett to document the photos this way, the results spoke for themselves however....

Photo by: David Burnett
Image Source:http://petapixel.com/2013/02/08/david-burnetts-speed-graphic-photos-of-the-london-2012-olympics/


David uses a great amount of technology, a wide array to keep his options open when out in the field trying to capture photos for his stories. He uses a Think Tank Photo "Airport Security" bag for all his equipment in which he carries alot of equipment such as a Holga 120N Camera, a pacemaker speed graphic camera which is best described as "old school", a Kodak Aero-Ektar Lens, and much much more. His weapon of choice however are his 2 Canon EOS 5D cameras... pictured below.

Image source:http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5d


When it comes to David's ethics, you can best look at them by looking at a project he was involved in titled "Facing Change, Issues Facing America". It is a nonprofit group of photojournalists and writers that gathered to explore America and attempt to map out its future to avoid past mistakes. It really shows he cares about this country and where it is going, he has been very outspoken politically (his blog on his website is great) and is strongly opinionated and influential. He especially focuses on Americas economical issues in his contribution to Facing Change.

Photo by: Unknown
Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Facing-Change-Documenting-America-FCDA/128622040521670


David's style is simple, yet elegant. He wants to capture the moment the best way he can and handles each situation differently from the next. He has said "Photojournalists must constantly adapt, constantly change." He also has not limited himself to one particular subject field as his website states he takes photos of  "war, sport,  politics, the famous, the infamous, and the Unfamous."

Photo by: David Burnett
Image Source:http://blog.photoshelter.com/2009/02/david-burnetts-photographs-of/


His impact is unparalleled. David is revered in the Photojournalism industry. There was a book that came out that was titled "100 Photos for Freedom of the Press" that was a careers worth of David's photos. He published 2 books on top of all his work as a photojournalist. He has been honored as Photographer of the year by the National Press Photographers Association and has been honored with prizes in the Best of Photojournalism as well as the Eyes of History contest sponsored by the White House News Photographers Association.

Photo by: David Burnett
Image Source: http://www.davidburnett.com


Reading David's blog on his website we seem to have alot of the same viewpoints, as well as interests. He is a big sports and music fan, and is pretty liberal with his political views. All things in common with myself. His love of music is very prevalent in his works with Bob Marley and he has done alot of sports photography especially at the olympics. He is a remarkable man and photojournalist. His work is something I will continue to follow in the future.

Image Source: https://people.creighton.edu/~jcb55584/burnett.html


Sources:   http://www.davidburnett.com
                http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photographers/photographer-david-burnett/
              http://facingchange.org/david-burnett/
           http://petapixel.com/2013/02/08/david-burnetts-speed-graphic-photos-of-the-london-2012-olympics/
             http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/07/in-the-bag-with-photographer-david-burnett/