Joe McNally 2

In the second of two interviews for FotoTV, Joe McNally describes the development of his career and the qualities that have made him one of the most versatile photojournalist working today. The video is richly illustrated with examples of McNally’s work.

Starting out as a newspaper photographer in New York, McNally soon realized that he did not have the instincts and skills that a newspaper journalist needs to cope with the stress of daily breaking events. So he branched out into color photography and portraits. He was so successful that he soon found himself working for likes of Life Magazine, Sports Illustrated and from 1987 on, for the National Geographic.

The pressure today on professional photographers is high and McNally’s advice to young photographers is to diversify and learn as much as possible. McNally himself is omnipresent: He writes books, is present on the web, takes on assignments for companies and government agencies as well as continuing to work for prestigious magazines.

He emphasizes the importance of having a vision of the image you want to create and then working hard for it. Cameras are so easy to use these days that people often forget this.  Persistence is the key word. Sometimes, as in the example of a worker fixing a light on top of the Empire State building, one has to go to extraordinary lengths to get the desired shot.

At the same time, McNally retains a playful attitude to his work. “Pixels are free”, he says, “Experiment, test things, check it out”.

For McNally, you are only as good as your last picture. He remains curious and enormously creative. On the question of challenges still to be faced he states, ”My best picture is still out there”.

McNally was born in New Jersey and received his postgraduate education at the Samuel I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He works in New York City and lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut.