DHARAVI, India, January.29.2009-A street scene in Dharavi, India, one of Asia’s largest slums. photo by Brent Foster

About a year ago, I was sitting in an office letting my bosses know that I’ve decided to leave daily newspaper life to pursue a freelance career overseas. I mean, it makes sense to leave a stable job during the recession, right? I remember walking out of the LA Times for the last time, past the “Pulitzer Hall” wondering if I had made a major mistake in my career path. At the same time I found myself saying “It wasn’t you, it was me,” in my head.

I’ve basically worked as a staff photographer from the day I graduated college, not really realizing that it’s not actually what I wanted to do.

KIGALI, Rwanda, March.15.2009-Street scene in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. photo by Brent Foster

Stepping stone by stepping stone, I moved from small to large dailies one paper at a time until eventually I was hired the L.A Times. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking newspapers, or the amazing photojournalists that I’ve learnt so much from at each place I’ve worked. I just needed to go. To learn to be my own photographer, to travel, to experience, and sometimes, to starve.

VARANASI, India, April.6.2009-A blind man lays at the main ghat, at the foot of the Ganges, considered the holiest place on earth for Hindus. photo by Brent Foster

KATHMANDU, Nepal.May.12.2009-Maoist protesters clash with police. photo by Brent Foster

It’s been a hell of a year. Assignments have taken me to Rwanda, Ethiopia(tomorrow), Nepal, all over India, and even back to my hometown in Ontario. It’s also been a hell of a struggle. I pretty much have no idea what I’m doing as a freelancer yet. I do know I’m now 5 per cent a photographer, and 95 per cent a grant writer, contest enterer, final cut editor, researcher, pitcher, visa chaser, blogger, logistics coordinator, and shameless self-promoter. I think that’s actually how freelance works unless you’re a superstar photographer. The big difference though is the 5 per cent of time I’m shooting has been more fulfilling than most of my years as a newspaper photographer. It’s important for me, at least at this stage in my life to feel like I’m doing important work, pushing myself as a photographer, and continuing to develop my skills as a “visual journalist.”

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo.March.10.2009-A mother feels her child’s forehead as he is treated for Malaria. photo by Brent Foster

Multimedia has saved my life, or at least has sustained me so far. Truly, it’s been about 90 per cent of my income this year. That being said, we definitely have a love/hate relationship.
I love shooting for multimedia pieces, layering audio, shooting stills, and capturing things on video that just wouldn’t translate in a still. I truly think it’s the strongest form of storytelling. People get their own voice. They can tell their own story, and combined with strong visuals, it rocks. That being said, it’s a huge pain. It’s not the actual editing that’s the pain, it’s hours upon hours of organizing, rendering, slicing, and dicing that lead up to when you really get to create. It also takes you away from shooting pictures for fairly substantial periods of time. Other challenges include making it harder for me to convince editors I’m a still photographer alongside the multimedia work I do. It seems most of the clients I have hire me for one or the other.

KASHMIR, Indian Occupied Territories, February.22.2009-Munira, age approx. 36. Her husband’s name is/was Mohammad Akbar. He disappeared in 1996-97. Estimates range between 2000 and 6000 women do not know the whereabouts of their husbands. photo by Brent Foster

Tomorrow I’m off to Ethiopia in the early morning where I’ll be working with Poul Madsen, my colleague from the Bombay Flying Club on a story about children who live on the streets of Addis Ababa for a Danish NGO.

Feel free to shoot topics my way this week if there’s anything you’d like me to write about.

Cheers, Brent
fostervisuals (at) gmail (dot) com
www.brentfoster.com
www.visualjournalist.org