David I. Gross

Author: David Gross

  • More Fire?

    I trying to get to the Station Fire, near Los Angeles. My tummy says I should be there, but I know it’s not a great idea to show up completely unannounced. It’s best to stay at fire camp, to be able to work freely with the team at the camp. I don’t want to be…

  • Shooting Fire

    I’ve learned a few lessons about photographing fire by now. This is the second time I’ve followed a big fire — the first was the Basin Complex Fire — and I’m starting to get the hang of the rhythms of wildfire and firefighting. This time, I spent a week on the La Brea Fire in…

  • Tales Gone By

    How do you shoot a story about events long gone by? Usually, you document the current impact of those events. You show the people and places as they are now, the scars of past trauma.   You also look for environmental images to illustrate concepts: some subjects in my current project have bad, bad dreams. This little…

  • How Would Nachtwey Have Done This?

    I can’t help wondering how a different photographer, perhaps James Nachtwey, would have shot this particular image. I haven’t seen any other versions of this scene which see the menace of the back-hoe and the scurrying ant-like people. Would he have come closer, shown more interest in the man with the mask? To me, the…

  • The Lost Boys

    Shadows of War, page 184: …The children take great exception to the common statements that children born and bred in war are a “lost generation”…. Illusion, the children respond. We know how we came to live this way. We can see who has and who doesn’t, who gives and who takes. We know we take…

  • Fixing the Economy

    Shadows of War, page 196: I asked him: “If, at the end of the colonial or apartheid era your government asked you to recommend an economic development plan, what would you recommend?” He responded: “My first inclination is to say that the countries must ask their people to continue working in the same way for…

  • ROE

    Nordstrom’s book, Shadows of War, will put a spin on the idea that one can develop rules of engagement (ROE) for peace-keeping missions. How can one develop ROE when the soldiers, INGOs, GOs are all involved in every form of trade, resource extraction, etc., that a country can support. Or, are ROE only for highly-trained…

  • Too Many Ideas

    Frankly, it’s a constant struggle to focus on one thing at a time. I have too many ideas. It’s always been like that, I suppose. I have a list current projects sitting on my desk, followed by a list of great, new ideas, including: Cats Ferry boats Forensic Victim Identification (war/disaster) The Evidence of War…