Photographing Death and Hope in Somalia

Note: This blog entry was originally published here on globeandmail.com 

Stepping off the aircraft in Mogadishu, Somalia, I recognized the wall of oppressive heat that I’d first felt there in 2006. This time I was there to work with The Globe and Mail’s Africa correspondent Geoffrey York, and the situation would be dramatically different from each of our own previous experiences there.

Every assignment I’ve ever accepted that involves some level of risk has always been accompanied by a series of emotions. Packing and waiting to get on with the job is an anxious time. I find foreign assignments to be more difficult as my children grow older. Now teenagers, their understanding of the world and the places I am sometimes asked to work in adds to their own anxiety. As hard as it used to be to leave behind two small children, I found it more difficult knowing how worried they were while I was away this time. Unfolding events in Mogadishu didn’t make this any easier to deal with.

As I passed through security at Pearson airport, I received sad news from Geoff that a Malaysian cameraman had just been killed in Mogadishu. At the time details were sketchy, but it was still a very blunt reminder of the place I was about to visit and the need for constant vigilance. I hoped my teenagers wouldn’t see that report in the news.

Pix between assignments

You know I just love this job for the variety.

I'm a newspaper photographer; photojournalist if you will. Many assignments we do can be routine or mundane, while others can be life altering.

I don't travel as much as I'd like perhaps, but just about as much as my family life can afford, and certainly more than some of my colleagues. I've been fortunate to have had many opportunities, and I've tried to make the best of them.

I'm not in Egypt right now, and yes, I'm somewhat disappointed about that. But since I'm not I try to please my masters here in Toronto with the best job I possibly can.

My job, over the past 24 hours, has included shooting Wynton Marsalis with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at Massey Hall, a frustrating effort over the span of two songs, in poor light while Mr. Marsalis himself, practically hid at the back of the 15-piece band! My favorite pic from the night was taken from the front seat of my car however, while waiting to meet the PR guy at the stage door.

Today, during my 3pm shift, I was shooting Pee Wee hockey, trying to get a good body checking photo for yet another study on the impact of body checking on minor hockey players. Seems body checking is like wine....good for you one year, ....not so much the next. I love hockey. But Pee Wee hockey doesn't always provide the best hit-action. Anyway, it was a snow day here, so before the first game I thought I try and catch up with the rest of the staff and find a weather pic, so off to a few tried and true feature holes, and lo and behold.....I got lucky.

Like I said, I love this job for the variety.