Fabienne Geichmar, 15, was fatally wounded by a stay bullet while looting with hundreds on Rue Marthley Seiee in downtown Port au Prince on 1/19/2010.
Photo by Michael Mullady.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you first get into photography?

Hola, I’m Michael Mullady, a 26-year-old photographer originally from the Bay Area and currently based in San Francisco, when not working internationally. My love for photography evolved in high school while taking a film class as my art elective. After graduating high school, I was uncertain what I wanted to do with my life and was not enrolled in college. I always had a desire to serve a greater good somehow and was seeking something to grasp onto. One day before going on one of my many treks through the Yosemite high country, my father gave me his old film camera and an instant love affair began. Growing up in California, I’ve always been an avid outdoorsman and so I began carrying my camera along with me documenting my trekking, surfing and climbing trips. I knew right away that photography was going to be more than just a hobby. It wasn’t long before I began to engulf myself in learning the medium. I enrolled in traditional photography courses at a local junior college and began working in a darkroom. Not long after beginning to understand the medium, a good friend of mine turned me onto the work of photojournalist James Nachtwey. Instantly, in that moment, I knew my life and my photography would take a dramatic turn. It was a defining moment for me and I understood right away the power photography possessed and that I could use it to not only make art, but to tell stories that could help inform the world of social injustices, and ignite the dialogue needed to effect change.

Give us an idea of what photojournalism is and how it differs from street or documentary photography. How close are these disciplines and where do they differ?

I believe photojournalism to be term that covers a large span of photography. Photojournalism is the art of telling stories with images, whether you work for a small-town newspaper covering daily sports, news and features or shoot for a national magazine covering long-term documentary projects. As for street photography, I would consider many images in my portfolio to be street photography. Often times as photojournalist, we have to walk the streets seeking scenes that are both visual and informational. All these disciplines are very closely related and simply different areas of focus or approaches to photographing people, at least in my opinion.

Is there a distinction between photography for reporting purposes, and photography for art’s sake?

Yes, there is a large distinction between the two. Many people believe photojournalists to not be artists and consider other genres of photography to be “art.” What I strive to do is bleed these lines. First and foremost, I would consider myself an artist, a visual artist whose subject matter is humanity. I live for light, obsess over sophisticated compositions and spend as much time as needed to make the exact frame I’m envisioning. A large distinction is that I intend to make images for the world to see, via publications, not images just to hang on a wall. Another distinction would be the fact that many times when you’re working on assignment for a publication reporting a story, you have no control over the situation (light, location, etc.) so you must make something that tells the story because you’re on a deadline. If you you’re shooting a longer-term project, either for a publication or for “art’s sake,” you have more control over the situation you’re photographing.

Share a favorite photograph with us that you’ve taken and tell us about it.

Wow, people always ask this question and I always fumble a little bit. I really don’t know if I have just one favorite image. I have work, such as my projects, “Delicate Strength” and “Children of Lead” which are very close to my heart and two stories I’m very proud of, but the images are a part of a collection and each one holds a vital place in the greater picture. “Delicate Strength” was what I would consider my first real project. I documented a woman with a very rare bone disorder during one semester in college for close to 4 months. I became very close with my subject during that time and it made me realize that I wanted to work on long-term documentary projects getting deep into my stories while spending as much time as needed to tell the story. “Children of Lead” was a project I worked on in Peru documenting a town ravaged by pollution from an American owned metal smelting factory. The project was my first time working outside the USA and doing humanitarian reporting. I became very close with the people I photographed in La, Oroya and the project re-assured me that I was capable of doing serious work in foreign situations. That being said, photography is a constant learning process and I feel my images get better every time I shoot.  While it’s a heart-breaking situation and the images are sometimes disturbing, visually I am very happy with the work I am doing currently in Haiti. There are a few particular images I have taken here that I consider to be my new favorites, although they’re haunting me. Some images taken while people were looting and cops began to fire at random I’m very proud I was able to make under the difficult circumstances. It was a disgusting situation to see police killing their own people for simply looking for the necessities to survive, in buildings that were entirely damaged anyways. Working in that atmosphere was very dangerous. One day while covering the situation, a young girl was shot just a few feet from where I was standing. People had jumped onto a collapsed building and were running over roofs to get inside stores were merchandise was buried. It was a split decision, but I decided to follow the people to get more intimate images. Putting myself into that situation was possibly something I should have thought more about. In the moment, getting the photograph was all I was thinking about, not my life. That bullet could have been in my head. It was that serious. The cops were not looking at who was in the crowd, they were just shooting. To think I could have lost my life in an instant is terrifying. That day I realized the dangers of working in hostile situations as a journalist and that any day could be your last. When I saw that girl laying on the ground and the agony on her families face, I thought about my own family and the agony I put them through every time I leave the country to work. I never want my parents to have to go through loosing there only son. That situation impacted me very deeply and I have yet to speak to anyone in detail about it, you guys are the first. I will share one of my images from that day with you guys.

Walk us through your current camera gear and workflow.

I am strong believer that the camera is only a tool and that you must first find a vision before you worry about what equipment your using. I shoot on a Canon 5D and currently a 24mm 1.4 lens. However, I worked with a 28 1.8 for the past few years until I was able to upgrade.  That’s it. I’m a purist in that sense. I like to travel light and use only one, wide angle fixed lens. I don’t like zoom lens, when I want to get tight frames I move close to my subjects. I like to take my viewers right into the action. I actually get a little disgusted at what I call “safari photojournalists.” Those people slinging 4 cameras around there necks who stand back and use long lens to zoom into their subjects, instead of approaching them. My workflow on a Macbook is simple: I open my images first it Photo Mechanic. I must say I love Photo Mechanic and the people at Camera Bits have been very supportive.  After editing my raw take, I open the selects into Photoshop. Currently I’m actually using Lightroom more because of its simplicity. It allows me to not stress on post-production as much.

You travel a lot. Tell us about a memorable instance where having your camera made an impact on you and what you were experiencing.

Every trip I take to photograph is memorable. From the moment I picked up the camera it has impacted my life dramatically. The doors it has opened to understanding myself and the world around me are vast. I will always have a place in my heart for everywhere I’ve visited.  Thus far, Peru is still the most memorable. It was the first country outside the U.S. I visited to work and some of my best memories are from that trip. I was also traveling with someone very close to my heart, which can make a huge difference during the difficult times you encounter on the road.  My camera has taken me into situations I would have never seen or understood if I were not a photographer and for that I’m forever grateful. These past few weeks have been very impacting on me. My time in Haiti has been like nothing I have ever experienced before and like nothing you could ever truly be prepared for. I’m still trying to decompress to understand the situation but as of now this work has impacted me the most and has taken a large emotional toll.

What photographers, past and present, inspire you? If you could spend a day with a photographer, living or dead, who would it be and why?

The photographers who inspire me the most are the many talented young shooters who I’m privileged to call my close friends. San Francisco State was a great place and I credit many of my colleagues there, and the many other young shooters I’ve met along the way( from other parts of the country), for pushing me to become the shooter I am today. I know the future of photojournalism is in good hands because I personally know the passion that drives the people around me will never die. If I could spend a day with one photographer I would spend it with Eugene Smith because I aspire to do the type of work he did in Minamata. If not him, I would spend a day with Alex Webb because I aspire to shoot with the complexity that he does. As I said before, I always admired James Nachtwey. Believe it or not, I actually got to meet him in Haiti. It was surreal to look over one-day and see him working next to me. Wow.  I couldn’t believe it was really him. Everything I had dreamed about and strived towards became real in that moment. He was no longer a golden god in my eyes but a colleague, working to illustrate the same situation I was. I also got the privilege to work with David Alan Harvey recently assisting him during a San Francisco workshop put on by Momenta. My dream is to work for National Geographic and I have always loved his work. Getting to hang out with him a few days was great. I’m only mentioning this because both those guys were people I always looked up to and if I hadn’t already met them I would probably want to hang out with one of them for day. But really, this is such a hard question, maybe I could make some mutant clone with pieces of all my role-models, haha.

 

What would be your dream destination for photographic purposes?

I want to see the world and most every country and culture fascinates me. I have begun my career focusing on Latin America due to the language and its close proximity to North America, but plan to begin working in other parts of the world in the near future. I have always had a blind love-affair with Africa. I guess I always thought of it as the final frontier, somewhere I will go when the time is right. I’m currently in the preliminary stages of planning a cross continent motorcycle trip with two close friends, another photographer and a writer. I’m hoping that next year this will become a reality. But it’s hard to tell where the wind will blow.

What are your current projects? Future projects?

Currently I am working in Haiti covering the aftermath of the earthquake. It was a spur of the moment thing as most breaking news incidents are. I was actually on my way back to South America to work on projects. After my time in Haiti, I most likely still make my way to South America where I will be working with a non-profit organization documenting an environmental social issue. I prefer not to go into detail about projects I have yet to begin for personal reasons. But to be honest, I’m having a hard time leaving Haiti. I was just sent to Northern Dominican Republic to work on an assignment. After my short time there, I’m back in Haiti. I have no idea how long I will stay. Days really become like hours out here as time seems to fly. All I know for certain is the immediate future which will be more time in Haiti.

Tell us something about yourself that few people know about you (relating to photography. Or not).

I think few people know that even with what seems to be my relative success, I’m struggling pretty badly. I think if I was doing this 30 years ago, I could have been in a good position. The way things are now, it’s very hard to get work: even if you’re great, there just isn’t much opportunity for young photojournalists. It’s pretty sad really; I can barely pay rent and have to live very modestly. I don’t know how long I will be able to live like this—it scares me a little. I’m single at the moment, but would like to settle down one day, I just don’t know if that will happen in part because of finances and also because I travel so much —who would want to be with someone like that? I think few people, besides the people in the business, really understand that while I’m living my dream and doing what I love, I am sacrificing greatly. It’s almost a love-hate relationship. But the decision is easy, it always has been. This is my calling, my heart and soul, and I feel blessed to have discovered it.

You’re in Haiti, as you answer these questions. Tell us about your day to day life there since you’ve been in the country. As a photographer, how do you choose where to focus your camera and your attention? How much time are you spending photographing and what other activities are you involved in? What else should we know about the situation, from your vantage point?

Haiti has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. The things I’ve witnessed—I hope all of you reading this—will never have to go through. I’m still here at the moment, so it’s difficult for me to really understand everything. I think once I get home and have time to reflect, it will sink in and I’ll begin to fully comprehend what happened. It’s a horrific tragedy. When I first arrived, bodies lined the streets and the smell of death pierced the air. I immediately did what I came to do and began documenting my surroundings. It’s challenging, but I believe most photojournalists have to put up a shield when doing this kind of work. You become numb to what you’re seeing. It’s crazy to think about light and composition when you’re shooting dead bodies or being shot at in police/looter crossfire, but that’s the reality of what we do. What I’ve witnessed will be sure to haunt me. My work takes a huge emotional toll on me and that’s something I think most people don’t understand.

Day to day life in Haiti is a logistical nightmare. Getting anything done in this country is extremely difficult. For that purpose, I have hired a fixer who’s helping with translations and navigation. There are a few hotels where people have been staying but they are very expensive. I have been camping out with many of the aid organizations in the United Nations compound near the airport. Being here I eat, sleep and breathe photography. I am doing nothing but taking pictures and planning where and when to take pictures. If I’m not in the field, I’m online transmitting images or keeping in contact with people in the states. Oftentimes where I photograph is random, I’ll tour the city via motorcycle and stop at a location I feel I want to document. Sometimes you hear from other journalists or aid workers where something is happening. It’s totally dependent on the situation and every day is different.

The way I see things in Haiti is very different then I imagine you guys to see it through the news. Aid is here, but there are so many people in need and not everyone is receiving proper attention. Things have definitely positively progressed, but it’s going to take more time to help everyone in need.

Haiti is plagued by corruption. I have witnessed it first-hand, police stealing aid supplies and keeping them for themselves or selling them to wealthy people. This type of thing is a reality in Haiti. I’ve seen it on many occasions.

Before the earthquake, Haiti was in a bad situation so after this I fear for their future. Many Haitians whom I’ve spoken with express they want to become and American colony, such as Puerto Rico. Being an American, it’s been difficult to answer those questions for people and even more difficult knowing that if I told them what I really thought, it would not be what they wanted to hear.

As most of you could imagine, it’s been nothing short of complete chaos here. A roller coaster ride like no other.

Thank you all for reading through my interview and for your curiosity in my work. Feel free to drop me a line anytime. Much love.

With open eyes and an open heart, the journey continues…

Cheers.

Thank you, Michael.

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Julie’s note: I first became aware of Michael’s work via his story, “Children of Lead,” and have been following his work ever since. Michael’s website is www.michaelmullady.com. You can see Michael’s story “Children of Lead” in Burn Magazine: http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/10/michael-mullady-children-of-lead/