Michael Robinson Chavez – Lessons in the Field

In this video, award-winning documentary photographer Michael Robinson Chavez shows us around the Centro Histórico of Mexico City and gives us an inside look on his photographic processes, both as a professional photojournalist and a street photographer. Chavez tells us the importance of being present in the moment, taking your time, and “using the camera to show us what your curious about.”

Michael Robinson Chávez, a Pulitzer Prize winning former staff photographer for The Washington Post, became seduced by photography after a friend gave him a camera before a three-month trip to Peru in 1988. A native Californian and half Peruvian, he currently works as a Staff Photographer with The Washington Post. He previously worked for The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and the Associated Press. He has covered assignments in over 70 countries including the collapse of Venezuela, climate change in Siberia, violence in Mexico, the historic drought in California, tsunamis in Indonesia and Chile, the Egyptian revolution, life in Brazil’s favelas, gold mining in Peru, the 2006 Hezbollah/Israeli war and the US led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Robinson Chávez was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 as part of a staff entry from The Washington Post covering climate change. He is also a three-time winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Photojournalism and was named Photographer of the Year by Pictures of the Year International in 2020. He has received awards from the Best of Photojournalism, PDN Photo Annual, Northern Short Course and the Scripps Howard Foundation. His work has been exhibited widely, including the Visa Pour l’image festival in France, the Head On Photo Festival in Sydney, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Centro de Imagen in Peru, Imagenes Havana in Cuba and War Photo Limited in Dubrovnik among others. In addition, he teaches and lectures at workshops and photo festivals throughout the world.

Honors and Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism, winner, 2020; Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting, finalist, 2020; Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award International Photojournalism, 2018 and 2011; Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Domestic Photojournalism, 2014 ; Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, 2020; Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, 2nd Place, 2014 and 2010 ; Pictures of the Year International, Environmental Awareness Award, Special Recognition, 2014 ; Scripps Howard Award for Environmental Reporting, finalist, 2017; Scripps Howard Award for Photojournalism, winner, 2008; Photographer of the Year, Northern Short Course, 2020; WHNPA, Photographer of the Year, 2007, 2004 ; Visual Journalism Award, News Leaders Association, finalist, 2020; Gerald Loeb Award for Explanatory Journalism, finalist, 2017

Professional Affiliations: Society of Professional Journalists, National Press Photographers Association

Education: San Francisco State University, BA in Journalism