Birth of a Notion

First off, kudos to the headline writer for this headline, "Amid the poverty of West Africa, the birth of a notion."

These words lead off a Folio centre spread in The Globe and Mail about a new program of free healthcare for expecting mothers and mothers of young children. Geoffrey York, our African Bureau Chief wrote the piece and the images are mine. Designer extraordinaire David Pratt did the layout.

So much of our work in the media involves bringing light to problems and difficulties around the globe. It's critical that we continue to draw attention to areas that need it, but it felt great to be able to help tell a positive story, especially out of Africa, and specifically Sierra Leone, a country that has seen more than its share of suffering.

While there is much to be done in Sierra Leone there is no denying that this dramatic step is a very important one. The program in itself is not without problems, and the long-term sustainability of it in such a poor country will be a question for some time.

In Somalia last September Geoff  and I witnessed a lot of death and suffering. I photographed a 7-year old boy who had just died, and his grieving family. Those are images that I feel need to be made, and stories that need to be told.

But I have to say that being allowed to photograph a woman giving birth to a healthy baby boy, and coming through it herself without issue at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown was a real privilege, and one that I will never forget.

Ruby Williams, Matron, Princess Christian Maternity Hospital

Likewise I won't ever forget the smile and the generosity of Ruby Williams, the Matron of the Hospital, who took a lot of time during her hectic day to shepherd me around her hospital and patiently waited while I made images. Thank you Ruby.

Geoffrey York's story and links to a photo gallery and audio slideshow can be found at globeandmail.com.

Lightning's Last Dance

While I haven't been overly vocal, at least publicly, in the ongoing debate about the merits of newspaper multimedia, and specifically video as a tool for photojournalists, I have been consistent about one point.

The opportunity for photojournalists to step up and accept a greater role in our newsrooms, as journalists - storytellers, has never been greater.

For years many of us have struggled to be accepted as journalists and have fought against the "just a photographer" label. Many newspapers today, more than ever, seem more willing to give photojournalists time to work on stories because the new potential home for our works - the web - has limitless space, and papers are motivated to fill that space with content. The discussion about the quality of work we provide, and/or papers demand, and in turn the resources they are willing to commit to these efforts I'll save for another day.

Enough said.

My latest story, which was shot primarily in video, with some stills - I also wrote the story - was posted yesterday on theglobeandmail.com and ran on the GlobeAuto front, and inside on page five.


Much of my work in recent years has tended to be documentaries about social issues, but I felt I needed a break from the norm and thought I would try my hand at something completely different. Perhaps not completely, since it still deals with overcoming challenges, but it is certainly a "lighter" story than most people are used to seeing from me lately.

The two parts of the multimedia story, each a little over five minutes long, tell the story of a low-budget stock car team competing in the Nascar Canadian Tire Series.

Finally, a word about luck. This entire story seemed to be lucky for me, despite being about a #13 car. Many aspects of the story just fell into place, and then there was simply the odd "lucky" moment.

I was once told, and I firmly believe, that photographers make our own luck. We anticipate something happening, prepare properly, and if our instincts are correct we are rewarded with the image we'd hoped for - or better. You'll see what I mean if you watch Part 2 to the end.