Daniel Etter

Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Etter is a multi-talented photojournalist whose hard-hitting images consistently appear in the world's most prestigious news publications.

Photography, journalism and filmmaking; the Canon Ambassador has many strings to his creative bow. His gritty but often heart-rending reportage images have appeared across a selection of the world's top-flight publications, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Stern, Der Spiegel and Time.

"In 2001, I saw the documentary War Photographer about James Nachtwey," Daniel says. "It portrayed a romantic idea of the lonesome photographer who goes out into the world and tries to trigger positive change through photography. An almost impossible task. Being 20 years old, I was deeply inspired by it and knew that I wanted to pursue the same career path."

Daniel admits that capturing the images, which were used by humanitarian organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, as well as leading daily newspapers and weeklies all over the world, had a lasting effect on him.

"My image of an Iraqi refugee family arriving by rubber dinghy on the Greek island of Kos went viral," he continues. "It triggered a wave of empathy that made many people donate towards NGOs that worked with refugees. Capturing that image had a huge impact on me. When I saw the raw emotions that morning on the beach in Kos and the love they showed towards each other, I was deeply moved. I started crying alongside them. The reaction it triggered in random strangers exacerbated this. I was so moved that I cried for three days again and again."

Daniel, along with a team of photographers working for The New York Times, won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize and the John Faber Awards of the Overseas Press Club of America, for their collective dramatic and evocative images documenting the crisis. "Winning the Pulitzer Prize was definitely a turning point in my career. I don't think there is another award that carries so much gravitas," says Daniel. That said, he has amassed numerous titles from an impressive array of competitions including World Press Photo and Pictures of the Year International.

How do you prepare for a job?

"For me it is mostly research. As a photojournalist working in hostile environments, this is the most important part. Mostly it means talking to trustworthy contacts on the ground, figuring out logistics and understanding where the risks and possibilities are."


Do you shoot with an agenda?

"I try to shoot without an agenda and show as much as possible of what is in front of me. But of course, as a photojournalist you take the side of the powerless, the oppressed and the voiceless."


How do you decide which parts of a scene to capture?

"I want to tell a story with my photography, so I'm always looking for visually striking sights that tell it."


What's your typical shooting methodology?

"I try to get as near to what's happening as much as possible. I shoot with a 35mm fixed lens because it creates a sense of being there in the photo, but this means I have to get really close in order to capture the action and emotion."


What is the most important attribute a photojournalist should possess, in your opinion?

"I think patience is the most important trait you can have. The ability to keep working on a story even though at times it might seem like it's going nowhere."

Daniel Etter