What does it mean to be “merely a witness”?

For years I have stood beside the phrase "my camera is merely a witness to my adventures”.

I really got to give credit where credit is due, This tagline I have been using was inspired by the quote of a very influential photographer, James Nachtwey who once introduced a presentation with the words

"I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated".

As you can probably guess, James has covered some humanities most gruesome events. A stark contrast from most of my work, however that quote really resonated with me. It brought forward the morality of journalism; to document what's in front of you regardless of who it does or does not benefit.

With this in mind, I have done my best to uphold this value in my work, influencing the moments in front of my camera as little as possible and always being at the ready to capture life as I see it.

This has enabled me to capture some pretty raw moments, many with technical flaws although often these flaws are diluted by the visual dialogue that's contained within the frame.

A prime example of this is my photo of a large Avalanche ripping past two climbers on the ice climb, Polar Circus.

This moment happened with zero notice, leaving me to purely reactive with my camera that was right at home in my hand. I didn't even know I was taking photos for probably 4+ frames as I mashed the shutter.

If you start looking at this photo past the dramatic moment you will see some funky blur action on the left side of the frame caused by me walking and zooming while shooting. for many photos, this would warrant them going in the reject pile although honestly, I didn't spot this till I printed it huge and very few people have commented on this imperfection. In some ways, it tells my side of this story of this moment.

This image would later go viral, being published around the world and across the web.

I know for sure that the subject of this image would have loved for this moment in there lives to have stayed out of the public eye due to people armchair quarterbacking their decision to climb that day however when deciding how to handle the media requests I saw the journalistic value in sharing this moment. It humanized the risks that as climbers we are constantly weighing in our decisions to go or not go and that despite being at the top of there game, these two came close to losing it this day.

So, as a photographer, how do I actively try and ensure I can bear witness with my camera you might ask? Well let me leave you with these 3 key tips I swear by:

This is key, and when I say camera I do mean a camera and not just a cellphone. Everyone has cellphones these days so when something earth-shattering happens there will be more than enough poor quality cellphone photos going around giving added value to those photos that have the qualities appreciated from a "real" camera.

Cameras can't take pictures inside a bag so find a way that's comfortable to you for carrying your camera outside of your bag while doing your activities of choice. I have utilized the Peak Design Capture Clip on my backpack or climbing harness for securing my camera when not actively taking pictures although Cotton Carrier also makes some solid options as well. I also try and keep the lens cap off... they really don't do much considering anything that could scuff the front of your lens would also most likely break your lens cap or nock it off anyways.

Often we will tweak our cameras to best suit each shooting situations. Things like white balance, ISO, autofocus modes... What can really kick your ass is not changing these settings back afterwards and then you go to capture a fleeting moment only to find your white balance is not in the ballpark or your ISO is jacked when it's super bright out.

For myself, I always default my camera to Aperture Priority, Auto ISO, Auto White Balance, and the drive mode set to continues low. I also almost always default my lens back to one of my wide angles.

With these settings, I can ultimately react with my camera to any situation and get the shot.