Rowan Griffiths, Daily Mirror Photographer, shares his experiences of being at the forefront of the breaking news industry and the opportunities it brings.
I’ve been working for Trinity Mirror for about 15 years. I’m a Regional Photographer, based in South Wales and I cover this area and the South West of England, generally for the Daily Mirror. What I love about my role the most is the variety, because while I cover day-to-day projects, I also work on national and international stories. I’ve been given the opportunity to travel, to get involved in things and go to places I would never have imagined I’d have the chance to.
The nature of the industry is that we rarely know what is going to happen next. In 2014, I covered the Ebola crisis. We went quite early on and so professionally, the chance to tell a story that wasn’t yet being told was very exciting. However, on a personal level, it’s challenging in situations like these, because what you know and what you can tell your family is fairly limited. That’s when Trinity Mirror are a real support; they support us with research and make sure we have a good structure behind us. So while there are always issues in the back of your mind, and you know the potential problems you might face, it’s this preparation that helps massively both for you and your family back home.
When you take on an international project, you don’t always arrive at a destination with a ‘fixer’, or someone there to help you find your way. Sometimes you have to find those people yourselves. You might get to the airport and then you’ve got to get things going from there. You have to find the right person to take you to a hotel and then build up contacts, like taxi drivers, to help you find out what’s going on and find other people who can help you. The story is always there, you just have to find the right route to get to it. You have to be persistent and determined.
Most journalists and photographers get a massive adrenaline buzz when things are happening and it’s that buzz that drives you. The real challenge is when things drop back to normal levels; you’re sort of itching for the next thing to happen. At the heart of it all though is that you’re in a position where what you do matters. You attempt to do each story justice and portray people and events as open and honestly as you see them. That’s the nature of journalism and press photography and that’s why newspapers are so important to me.