I see Rob Carr every year at the Super Bowl. We only see each other for maybe five minutes in the media center before we go our separate ways until the next year at the Super Bowl, but that’s better than nothing. So for the first time in probably 10 years, my former colleague at the Augusta Chronicle who’s now a staff photographer at Getty Images, and I have an extended chat. We get into what it’s like to be sports photographer hopping cross-country for a big wire service, all the preparations (and the pressure) these photogs have to go through to get ready for a big event like a Super Bowl, and how that compares to running the hometown photo department during the Masters golf tournament.
We also talk about why photographers across the country feel such a sense of camaraderie with each other, how much of a problem it is for wire services when their online images are stolen, and how Carr wrestled with journalistic ethics when he was covering Hurricane Katrina for the AP.
Interviewed on 2-12-14
FYI, here’s the photo shot by Kevin Carter that Carr and I talked about.
A vulture waiting for a starving boy to die, to eat him. Taken by Kevin Carter, who later committed suicide. 1993. pic.twitter.com/dTev2AkkXB
— Historical Pics (@HistoricalPics) February 13, 2014
And here’s the Snopes.com explanation of the Carter photo and what happened to him in the aftermath.
Plus, here’s a link to some of the photos Carr shot at the Super Bowl. One of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll being doused with Gatorade. One of Flea making an awesome face. And one of Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the halftime show.
Josh Katzowitz - Sports Writer/Author/Editor 