 When Boston had gang trouble back in the you know the the middle 90s or you know late 80s I used to drive around with a bulletproof vest And I I was basically driving with the Boston police who let me go in their cruises and we would get to Gun calls where they would be out with their guns drawn and I would be with them taking pitches And there was one in one situation Where it got pretty Hairy where there was a crowd around me in a police office took his gun out and pointed and told everybody to disperse to get out Of the way to leave me alone It was chaos. It was really chaotic, but I didn't even hesitate to go But how do I go as close as possible and get as safe? I'd be as safe as possible So I'm sitting there covering this protest Protester went through my camera strap took me with him and then all of a sudden in a split second I realized I'm on the wrong side of the action I'm down on the grounds and a police officer with a baton is pushing me out of the way Pick up my camera pick up my equipment as soon as I get my senses back I race and actually end up taking a picture of the guy who threw me down Being handcuffed and taken away, but I went to that events. I had no training I knew nothing about safety and I just kind of went in haphazardly With sandals much less no tennis shoes bad mistake and Just not being very aware of which side of the crowd to be on It's just when I was out there. We kept you know cell phones didn't work So you really had no idea what was going on, but we kept hearing things like oh another bomb went off or you know just we kept hearing things and we had no idea what was true and what wasn't and You know in the moment, you're not even thinking you're just acting and reacting and you're just shooting but when I went home and I had you know a couple days to just sit there and think about it, you know, I was shaking because Literally, I had no idea what was happening and anything could have gone off like a bomb could have gone off right where I was And there was there's like no order to the situation at all I took my first photo of the police officers with their guns drawn in the runner on the ground But three seconds after that I was right at the fence where the blast the first explosion had taken place And a police officer looked at me in the right in the eyes and he says you shouldn't be here. There could be another explosion and We kind of met eye-to-eye. We looked at each other and I digested that information And I thought about it, but I didn't want to think about it and I knew it was a dangerous situation What if there was another explosion? What if another bomb was going to go off and that's Probably drove me more to react to be angry enough to stay in there to go beyond the limits of Probably a normal person would would run backwards I looked for an entry point onto the sidewalk in through the fence that I could get closer to show what really happened So as the crowd got unruly, I realized I needed to be higher up I needed to have a bird's-eye view of what was going on to assess the situation As I was climbing up through a parking garage and looking down I realized that shots were starting to ring out suddenly. There was a What turned out to be an Emerson student female student lying on the ground? she had been shot through the eye with the rubber bullet and Lying lifeless on the ground The cops are clearing everybody out. Everybody's telling me, you know, you have to get out of here But I thought I didn't see any other cameras around. I thought this is an important picture Nobody else is here. So I decided to stay No one really has an above shot. So that's what I did. I went into the closest tallest hotel Right overlooking the bombs. I went up to the top floor without getting caught and I started knocking on doors until someone Let me in it was the wrong side. It didn't overlook the window. So I went around To the next row of doors and the first door I knocked on two women came in one just finished the marathon They let us in gave us from cocktail, you know We're saying oh my god telling us what they went through and let us shoot out of their window You know no one we were the first pictures of the scene from above Why is this important to journalism students because you really don't get the newsroom training for these kinds of situations that you used to Between staff cutbacks and breaking news and the timeliness of it You aren't always given your preparatory lessons. So you need to sort of think and practice ahead what you would do if you were sent out to cover like a Rail accident like which just happened in Quebec or if there was a big tank or truck accident involving hazardous materials Would you think to get like a gas mask? You know are there dangerous fumes? So you should you should be thinking about situations like that and how you would prepare to cover them It's very important. It's just stay safe There's two things to really be prepared for one is the idea of what the what emergency Personnel and and the military both referred to as situational awareness Is that you can become focused on on the person you're interviewing or on the scene that you're filming or the scene that you're observing And in the military, that's called target fixation Some pilots will fly right into the ground because they're so focused on on the target You want to continually look around you Basically if your head were on a 360 degree swivel that would be terrific when you first arrive at emergency scene You want to just take in what boundaries may have already been set up The most common at emergency scene would be the yellow tape put up by either law enforcement or the fire department And you have to stop by respecting that Don't get in the way of those that are Charged with helping the first responders the police the fire the EMS the military that were there don't get in the way It's always good to prepare yourself before Something happens and in the cases of fires in the cases of emergencies in any cases of crowd situations all the emergency Personnel do a lot of training a lot of drilling on this and so there's no excuse and not to take part in that or at least observe it Smart reporter is a good reporter an educated reporter is a good reporter look for a place to shoot that will get better shots But be away try and get up always Up is good, you know we had some students covering riots in London and Up was really good because they were they found a first-floor window. They were still able to zoom in They're still able to get all these clashes between police and protesters. You have really two decisions to make either do I Go and get myself in such a spot where I have some protection Do I start covering it as a journalist and that's really a question that no one can answer except yourself And in those experiences that started here at BU I've learned a few things one of which is Try not to travel alone Try to always go with a colleague a reporter or another photographer Someone who's always going to have your back also Rely on the wisdom of photographers and reporters and other journalists who've come before you Don't ever be afraid to ask a question because there is no such thing As a naive question, especially when you're going to a region that you're not familiar with Also research ahead of time know the situation in which you're going know the cultural sensitivities and know the mood and the atmosphere In which you're gonna land And be Respectful of that and responsive to everything that's happening around you always know your place in the environment always know the bigger picture around you And at the end of the day always ask yourself the question. Is it worth getting this picture? Sometimes it's not and sometimes it is I Mean for me to be completely honest. I just don't know if Any picture or any story is worth putting my own life in jeopardy And that's just me kind of trying to rationalize it I Just you know, I don't think the output of whatever that photo or that story will do is worth Putting my own My own self in danger. Just that's that's where I fall on it. I think Students new students old students Especially it be you They shouldn't be afraid to push themselves and they shouldn't be afraid to take risks and and make photographs and push themselves They shouldn't be intimidated. They should just be aware because if you end up being scared or intimidated You won't get the pictures that are good. I tell the stories you won't get What's what photojournalism is all about but as a photographer you're always gonna be on guard You always have to be on the defensive, but also be on the offensive If you're too laid-back, you're not gonna get the photo You have to you know, what what why what I think that drives me is Taking it to the limit taking chances that are reasonable chances and trying to get the best photo possible