"At the heart of all of these photos is a moment, or a detail, or an expression that tells the story of these soldiers’ day-to-day lives while on a combat mission."
—
Damon Winter explains process, philosophy behind award-winning Hipstamatic photos
That’s all he really had to say… but these are also very powerful words:
We are storytellers. We observe, we chose moments, we frame little slices of our world with our viewfinders, we even decide how much or how little light will illuminate our subjects, and yes we choose what equipment to use and through all of these decisions, we shape the way a story is told.
On the technical end, Damon argues:
But I don’t see how it is so terribly different from choosing a camera or film or process that has a unique but consistent and predictable outcome, like shooting with a Holga, or cross-processing or using a color balance not intended for the lighting conditions.
Similar to Zach’s point yesterday.
"All the videos I shot were informed by the way I shoot stills, but they include more elements. To allow those moments to live and breathe through sound and motion was a very interesting experience for me."
— Damon Winter on The Lens Blog post: “Afghanistan, in a 21-Second Moment”
"We want to show a subject’s personality and individuality. Being a soldier is all about being part of a unit. It’s always a tremendous challenge to personalize what it’s like to do a soldier’s work."
— NYTimes’ Damon Winter on his visual report for “A Year at War.” (via Lens)
