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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Jay Dickman: Far Afield

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jay Dickman has spent more than three decades on the road capturing subjects from the meager to the momentous

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Jay Dickman chases the sun. As a select member of National Geographic’s trusted stable of photojournalists, Dickman has circumnavigated the globe many times over, with more than 60 different countries under his belt. He has been there to capture everything from the Olympics to six Super Bowls to the Sex Pistols on their first American tour. He has lived for three months in a Stone-Age village in New Guinea, has spent a week on a nuclear sub beneath the endless ice of the Arctic, and amongst the many awards that he has won, he champions a Pulitzer Prize for his work in war-torn El Salvador.

For more than a quarter-century, Dickman’s lens has been a witness to history, and his keenly developed understanding of the visual storytelling process has produced an iconic set of imagery that has been seen in publications throughout the globe, including Life, Time, Fortune, Forbes, Sports Illustrated and many, many more.

A lone snowmobiler under a full moon on the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland.

His long history of rich, colorful photography uses strong and detailed compositions to translate the distinct personalities of the people and places he has visited. His particular talent as a photographer is to make the viewer feel as if he or she is a willing participant in the events and places that are often so foreign in nature and understanding to a readership. A group of celebrators brace themselves against the cold of frigid waters, and you feel as if you’re standing right there with them. The loneliness of a single snowmobile is tangible against a vast moonlit tundra. Fireworks explode everywhere, and it’s as if the celebration is all around you.

Dickman has seen his role change as photojournalism has changed, noting that his job is to stop people in their tracks, which becomes harder to do in a society inured to a constant visual barrage. Nonetheless, despite many years as a film photographer, Dickman is beyond enthused about the digital age. He has certainly seen his role as a photojournalist evolve in a society that he points out is subject to a daily bombardment of high-quality imagery.