january 2007 - Professional Photographer Magazine

hundred situations I wish I could have
added fill light, so you just hope you can
either work around a subject or
photograph in the shade.
Baghdad is a frustrating place to shoot as
the sun is so harsh and creates such pronounced
contrast. The Saddam theater is a
great place to shoot, with lots of shady areas
and indirect sunlight.
From a humanitarian standpoint, what
have you learned from this project?
When you’re presented a photography
opportunity that has a deeper humanistic
meaning—either for yourself or for the rest
of the world—think carefully about how
you want the story to be told and how
much control you are willing to give up. It’s
becoming very difficult to get anything less
than blood and guts published from Iraq.
When an agency photo editor asked me if I
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could get pictures of “the [theater] kids
holding guns,” I realized I would never get
this story told if I gave up any creative
control over the pictures. This was the
point in my life I became a humanitarian
photographer.
I’m now trying vigorously to work with
the U.S. State Department to get aid to the
Green Zone people caught in this
bureaucracy. It’s not so much that these
families are being ignored; rather, it’s that
the right people don’t know about them in
the first place. If I get anything from this
project, I hope I can make a change in the
welfare of this small group of people.
Perhaps it will expand into something for
others in Iraq in a similar situation.
To see more work from David Honl, visit
www.davidhonlphoto.com. His images are
also displayed by his distributor, Zuma
Press (www.zpicturegroup.com).
Kata distributed by: Bogen Imaging Inc. 201 818 9500 www.bogenimaging.us info@bogenimaging.com
January 2007 • Professional Photographer • 29