PHOTOJOURNALISM
So
I figured out a way to visit more than a 100 countries (see
subjects) and get paid for it.
Years as a photojournalist convinced me there are safer ways
to make a living. These were spent covering wars, natural
and man-made catastrophes, too many political campaigns, reforms
in China, irrigation and maternity care in Java and Sumatra,
Palestinian refugees and the fall of the Berlin Wall. My photos
have appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Saveurs,
The New York Times Magazine, The Wine Spectator....,
and also publications for the Ford Foundation, the United
Nations, and the US State Department ("The Problems with
Communism" – photos of Cuban workers building the
airport in Grenada, giving Reagan an excuse to invade).
Some
photos have become iconic: Nixon giving his signature victory
salute as he boards a helicopter on the White House lawn moments
after his resignation, a young Chinese man standing on the
Great Wall smiling broadly holding a Coca-Cola.
I left photojournalism after covering the overthrow of Ceaucescu
in Romania. Driving film to an airport in Belgrade the day
after Christmas in a rented VW that had all its windows blown
out by sniper fire, I realized there were safer subjects to
photograph.
FOOD
I
moved to Paris in 1988 and stayed for the oysters. Dangers
now are botulism, salmonella, an occasional mad cow or chef.
I discovered the joy of food
during early travels. Even now even when on nonfood assignments,
I wander off to discover markets. I had a meal of rat, bat
and dog in Indonesia, shared dog sausage with my son in Vietnam
on the way to see Dien Bien Phu in a rickety Soviet jeep (a
male bonding moment). And roast wild cat (probably a young
snow leopard) with my daughter in Burma. She is still angry
with me about it but loves to tell her friends. Both children
are still adorable (I am objective at all times).
My food photography goes
beyond chefs and plates, toward origins. I illustrated cacao
production in Ecuador and Ghana, ham curing in Parma and San
Daniele, Pata Negra Bellotas in Spain, clove harvests in Indonesia,
truffling with dogs and pigs in France and Italy, rice production
in Asia, olive oil in Provence, harvests and wine making all
over France and South Africa.
Food and travel-oriented
clients include:
USA: New York Times travel and
food and wine sections (examples),
Travel and Leisure, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Saveur, Fodor
travel guides, inflight magazines
Germany: Feinschmecker and Essen und Trinken
France: Saveurs, Gault Millau and GEO
Business stories include illustratations for Business
Week, Forbes, Time and Newsweek.
I took pictures to be included in coffee table books on Spain,
Provence and the Riviera. I worked for I.M. Pei at the Louvre
and continue to work with three-star Paris chefs Pierre Gagnaire,
Bernard Pacaud, Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse as well as Daniel
Boulud in New York. A recent book honored a Parisian public
assistance hospital on its 400th anniversary.
See a composite of experiences (five minutes on youtube) here.
FUTURE
