Public History: Photojournalism As Historical Evidence

Public History: Photojournalism As Historical Evidence

2 min · December 2019 · Featuring Ben Bohane, Daniel Schwartz, John Moore, Maggie Steber

In this video, award-winning photojournalists Ben Bohane, John Moore, Daniel Schwartz and Maggie Steber speak to the idea that journalists and photojournalists create “the first draft of history” and the essential role photographers play in persevering the past. Ben Bohane is an Australian photojournalist, author and TV producer who has covered Asia and the Pacific islands for the past 30 years. He is the founder and present Director of www.wakaphotos.com, the only photo agency based in the Pacific islands. He has the largest personal photo archive of the South Pacific in the world. His photographs are collected by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum and the Australian War Memorial, as well as being held in private collections. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, TIME, Newsweek, National Geographic, The Wall St Journal, Stern (Germany), Monocle, The Guardian, French Geo, Asahi Shimbun and many publications in Australia. He has also done tv news stories and documentaries that have been shown on ABC & SBS TV Australia, BBC, F24 (France), ARD (Germany) and NHK (Japan). John Moore is a senior staff photographer and special correspondent for Getty Images. He has photographed in 65 countries on six continents and was posted internationally for 17 years, first to Nicaragua, then India, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt and Pakistan. Since returning to the U.S. in 2008 he has since focused on immigration and border issues. Moore has won top awards throughout his career, including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, World Press Photo honors, the John Faber Award and the Robert Capa Gold Medal from the Overseas Press Club, Photographer of the Year from Pictures of the Year International, the NPPA and Sony World Photography Organization. Daniel Schwartz graduated from Zurich School of Arts and Craft (now Zurich University of the Arts) in 1980. He concentrates on book projects, with exhibitions, based on extensive travels, photographic essays, and reportages covering the Eastern Hemisphere from Iran to East Timor, from Turkmenistan to Bangladesh. Schwartz's art is documentary; it is in the history of places. His journalism is not a reaction to events; it builds on memory. His method is best expressed in "Travelling through the Eye of History" (published, in 2009, like all his books by Thames & Hudson), a pre- and post-9/11 observation covering Central Asia including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kashmir. Photographer Maggie Steber has worked in 64 countries focusing on humanitarian, cultural, and social stories. Her honors include the Leica Medal of Excellence, World Press Photo Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, Pictures of the Year, the Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service to Journalism from the University of Missouri, the Alicia Patterson and Ernst Haas Grants, and a Knight Foundation grant for the New American Newspaper project.For over three decades, Steber has worked in Haiti. Aperture published her monograph, DANCING ON FIRE. In 2013 Steber was named as one of eleven Women of Vision by National Geographic Magazine, publishing a book and touring an exhibition in five American cities. Steber has served as a Newsweek Magazine contract photographer and as the Asst. Managing Editor of Photography and Features at The Miami Herald, overseeing staff projects that won the paper a Pulitzer and two finalist recognition. Her work is included in the Library of Congress, The Richter Library and in private collections. She has exhibited internationally. Clients include National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, AARP, The Guardian, and Geo Magazine among others. Steber teaches workshops internationally including at the World Press Joop Swart Master Classes, the International Center for Photography, Foundry Workshops and and the Obscura Photo Festival.