Risking Your Life?

[Igor39]

Would you be willing to risk your life or freedom for a photograph?

 

[usayit]

You would only know if placed specifically in that position....

Just like asking if you would jump in front of a car to save a stranger....

 

[dpolston]

You would only know if placed specifically in that position....

Just like asking if you would jump in front of a car to save a stranger....

Ditto! Hard to say. I doubt it but people do it all the time (AKA the AP or war photographers/photojournalist).

Me... I love photography but I'm not willing to die for it. Although I would have "died to take" certain shots!

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

Ummmm........

no.

 

[bhop]

Probably not.. it's just a hobby for me..

 

[TATTRAT]

depends. Like said, you never know based on the circumstance, anything is possible.

 

[skieur]

Would you be willing to risk your life or freedom for a photograph?

Yes, I have done so, shooting aligators close-up with a regular lens, bears from 6 feet away eating near a town and hanging out of an open cockpit airplane when the pilot tilted the plane in the wrong direction. I have also barely escaped going through ice in -40 degree fahrenheit temperatures. (fast moving water underneath). I have also been threatened in photojournalistic and street shooting.

skieur

 

[Igor39]

Wow, thats admirable to say the least, I hope you got some good shots out of all those experiences, what sort of threats did you face though and for what reason, if you don't mind sharing.

 

[Emerana]

never! I have children, I wouldnt risk my life for anything but my family

 

[Snyder]

Yes I have, I have dodged several rocket attacks in Iraq while doing photojournalism. In my free time I take wildlife photos getting 15ft from a wild grizzley bear, climbing a 10,000ft in elevation mountain and braving the elements down to -50 just to get "The shot." Is it worth it? Yes I believe it is.

 

[craig]

Yes I would be wiling to die for a photograph. Photography is my life. I will do anything to get the shot.

Love & Bass

 

[seniorjack]

I've inadvertently done it (been oblivious because I was trying to take a pic and almost walked into traffic)...but I wouldn't intentionally risk my life for it!

 

[sabbath999]

I have risked my life several times "back in the day" when I was a photojournalist, once quite unintentionally.

I was knocked on the head while I was caught in between a bunch of KKK members and an angry African American crowd, ending up in the hospital for a couple of days (I did get the shot)... note to all present, while a barrier of 55 gallon drums filled with water LOOKS like a good solid way to keep angry mobs apart, in practice it just makes everybody a bit muddy when one attacks the other. Apparently, one of the anti-KKK people wasn't paying too much attention to who he was swinging the Louisville Slugger at. I don't remember any of it, the reporter I was with pulled me out off it totally knocked out.

I was also shot at once, although I didn't even realize I was doing anything dangerous. I was working real-estate back in the days before digital cameras, when newspapers shot the pictures for the real-estate ads, and the low man on the pecking order got the joyous job of driving all over town taking pictures of buildings and houses. I was shooting pictures of an empty building for some ad, and it turns out that was a drug deal going on in the ally. The person "on watch" threw a couple shots my way before bugging out, breaking out the rear window of my car about a foot away from me.

Risk is part of the job when you are a photojournalist, and while the violence at the KKK rally was both anticipated and expected, you just never know when you are going to get into trouble with a camera.

If I were doing photojournalism now, I would be a bit more careful (older and wiser) but there is no way you can eliminate risk.

 

[skieur]

Wow, thats admirable to say the least, I hope you got some good shots out of all those experiences, what sort of threats did you face though and for what reason, if you don't mind sharing.

In one case a crowd of Carribeans did not appreciate a Caucasian taking photos in their market in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia. They started "hissssing" at me and making some aggressive and inappropriate gestures. I was rather shocked by the degree of animosity.

In an unexpected bizarre incident, I was taking photos in a fight over schools with religious overtones when a caretaker approached me so mad that he almost assaulted me. He said that I could not take a photo of HIS school. I politely asked him whether I should relay that message to the Director of Education. He reluctantly cooled down, realized that he could get himself into trouble, and backed off a little. I had the good sense to be well-dressed at the time which can "intimidate" and lend authority to your activities in some locations.

skieur

 

[Garbz]

There's risk and then there's risk. You have to quantify it, since technically going outside in the sun puts you in the risk of getting skin cancer and dying.

I would climb up a 30m tree for a photo, I would be on the other side of a safety fence. I would take a photo of biker

I wouldn't jump infront of a moving car to get an action shot regardless of how good the photo would be.