Meet the man best known for Bob Marley shots

When he first started his career in photojournalism at the age of 17, David Burnett wished he was better trained when he captured a photograph of John F. Kennedy, the former American president.
Fast forward 50 years, Burnett looks at his extensive shots of presidents, war victims, Reggae icon Bob Marley's intimate portraits and the outcome of some 11 Olympics games. His long list of top awards is witness to the rough moments he spent to tell stories of those who had no real voice.
Speaking exclusively to Khaleej Times ahead of his visit to the Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah on November 21-24, Burnett said: "I don't think anyone who pursues stories that show the effects of human suffering can remain untouched. It makes you less hardened, and only adds to the sense of humanity which you as a photographer bring to your pictures."
Burnett won the 1980 World Press Photo Award for his picture of a Cambodian woman holding her child in her arms waiting for food to be distributed at a refugee camp. Though his image of Ayatollah Khomeini, former Iranian leader, was used as Times Man of the Year Portrait, Burnett is best known for his shots of the icon Bob Marley, published in his Soul Rebel: an Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley.
Being in war zones
Reporting half a dozen wars and places of civil strife, the only thing that kept Burnett going, he said, was giving voice to people who themselves have no real voice. "Whether we like it or not, conflict does bring out the most serious aspects of human behaviour, both for better and worse, and it is in those human moments that stories lie, awaiting to be told."
For him though, the worst part was the randomness of artillery. Back in the 1955 Vietnam War and the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Burnett ended up seeing people around him getting injured, sometimes killed. "There were a few times in Vietnam, and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) when I worried about my fate."
He added: "I wondered what I was doing there, but when I calmed down, I reminded myself that I'm there to photograph. Then you can get back to thinking clearly." And when it comes to taking portraits, Burnett quoted the old adage "eyes are the door way to the soul". 
And while social media has added the speed element to photography, Burnett said it puts photojournalism "thoughtfulness" under enormous stress. "Our job is to tell the story. One wonders if it isn't true that the medium itself is the message. I'd like to go back to the message being the message."
For aspiring photojournalists, the advice Burnett holds is "Wherever you live, there will be a good story worth-telling. Only commit to telling the truth about what you see".
And about that Kennedy photo he captured, Burnett said: "I do have a picture of him, and I'm happy I do (have it)."
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah