So You Want to Become a Combat Photographer

To become a combat photographer, one must look at himself and ask why he would want to work in such a dangerous profession. Being a photographer generally means you're a journalist and by default, a non-combatant. With this in mind, why would anyone willingly walk into a combat zone unarmed, save for their trusty photography and/or video equipment? Being a combat photographer doesn't always mean you're a non-combatant though. The United States military branches have a type of unit called Public Affairs. These units are designed by the military to be the journalists of those in uniform. Public Affairs units create military newspapers (such as the famous Stars and Stripes newspaper), base and unit level newsletters and many similar journalistic endeavors. By virtue of being a member of a uniformed service, these photographers are also armed to protect themselves in time of conflict. Ask yourself, if you were in the middle of a firefight and saw something so incredible, so unbelievable, would you first reach for your weapon to shoot, or your camera to shoot? Such is the dilemma a combat photographer faces.

So let's discuss your decision to become a combat photographer. You know that's the life for you, but now you need to know how to achieve the goal. You have a limited number of options. First, as mentioned above, you could join a uniformed service of a country serving in an armed conflict. You would be trained as a photographer by the military branch, assigned to your unit and would document the world of conflict through the military issued lenses of your camera or video recording device.

A second option is to become proficient in photography through a secondary means (self-taught or vocational level training, or college) and then apply to work for a news organization (Reuters, CNN, AP, etc) and volunteer for assignments in conflict zones around the world. You may also find employment with a magazine that emphasizes military or conflict lifestyles (Soldier of Fortune magazine for instance).

Another option, although unsavory, would be to work for a political mechanism (a governmental body, an ideological group such as a terrorist organization) so that you can take photos and videos for propaganda and recruiting purposes. This type of employment would be high paying, but would also most likely change your life forever in a way that you would not be able to live freely throughout the world as you choose, and would you be able to live freely with your conscious?

The last option would be to work as an independent and self-finance your career. You could travel to known conflict zones as a civilian, you could photograph what you find and submit them to organizations such as those listed above as a freelancer. You could write a book, or create a book of photographs for publication and sell them as an author. Of course, this route into the field of combat photography requires you to already have some ability to survive from available alternative funding sources until you are able to produce the photographs, submit them as a freelance artist, or get your work published in a book.

You've chosen your route to become a combat photographer, what other skills are needed to help you along? Well, the nature of combat usually lends itself to hardships. Not as much food as you'd like, uncomfortable sleeping conditions (outdoors, heat/cold, rain, snow) the obvious safety implications. Having survival skills inherent to any Boy Scout wouldn't be a bad place to start, and of course any military level survival and evasion technique training would be preferable. Remember, one of the first tenets to photography and to journalism as a whole is to report the story, not become a part of the story or the story yourself.

So you want to become a combat journalist, which would you shoot first, a weapon to save your life or a camera to capture the action going on around you? Some would say you can't photograph the action if you're dead yourself, other glory seekers would tell you that getting the shot is the most important thing to them. Which one would you be?