Whether its humility, patience, diligence or daring, New York-based photographer Anthony Karen has a personality thats ideally suited to a photojournalist because somehow he infiltrates enclaves and subcultures that are notoriously closed off, among them the Ku Klux Klan, shantytowns in Haiti and one of the few surviving leaders of Cambodias murderous Khmer Rouge regime.
After listening to a recent NPR interview with Karen, we were curious to know more about his start, his style and his process.
Why do you take photos?
I used to take photographs because I wanted to; now I also take them because I need to. I have to express myself in some creative way to feel alive photojournalism allows me to do so many things. It fills my soul to experience the gift of being allowed into someones most private moments and the trust they give me to try and capture whats going on the best that I can. Its the beauty of creation, going home and seeing what Ive captured on film. Its not always a great image, but its a moment of time that Ill always have access to. I can make that experience last forever. And I like to make people feel hopefully its not a feeling to blog [about] me and say my images suck, but photography is so subjective. So what can ya do!
What would you like to achieve by showing people your work?
I would hope the same things as anyone who does something creatively I mostly do it for me, but its also important to me to make people feel. Whether its anger, happiness or simply a view into something theyd never get to see otherwise. I hope to gain definition in my life; I hope to continue to learn and grow within my craft and as a person. I want new opportunities in which Id be able to do more of what I love and additional exposure. Always to grow . Id love for someone to take a chance on me and to [be able to] shoot for more humanitarian causes internationally. That is my biggest goal at the moment.
To read more go to: http://www.discarted.wordpress.com
After listening to a recent NPR interview with Karen, we were curious to know more about his start, his style and his process.
Why do you take photos?
I used to take photographs because I wanted to; now I also take them because I need to. I have to express myself in some creative way to feel alive photojournalism allows me to do so many things. It fills my soul to experience the gift of being allowed into someones most private moments and the trust they give me to try and capture whats going on the best that I can. Its the beauty of creation, going home and seeing what Ive captured on film. Its not always a great image, but its a moment of time that Ill always have access to. I can make that experience last forever. And I like to make people feel hopefully its not a feeling to blog [about] me and say my images suck, but photography is so subjective. So what can ya do!
What would you like to achieve by showing people your work?
I would hope the same things as anyone who does something creatively I mostly do it for me, but its also important to me to make people feel. Whether its anger, happiness or simply a view into something theyd never get to see otherwise. I hope to gain definition in my life; I hope to continue to learn and grow within my craft and as a person. I want new opportunities in which Id be able to do more of what I love and additional exposure. Always to grow . Id love for someone to take a chance on me and to [be able to] shoot for more humanitarian causes internationally. That is my biggest goal at the moment.
To read more go to: http://www.discarted.wordpress.com
