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Friday, October 5, 2012
Combat photographer
News>Combat photographer braves bullets to tell stories
Photos
A crew chief from the 159th Air National Guard preflights an F-15 Eagle Oct. 23, 2002 for Exercise Cope Snapper 2002. Held at Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., Exercise Cope Snapper 02 was a multi-aircraft exercise that engaged dissimilar air combat training with on fighter data link and joint operations with the Navy. The members involved in Cope Snapper consist of the 159th Fighter Wing's F-15, F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 169th McEntire Air National Guard from South Carolina, maintenance crews, and the Navy's F-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock)
6/8/2007 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- An award-winning Air Force photographer routinely braved bullets and bombs to tell the military's story through the lenses of his cameras to be named the Defense Department's Military Photographer of the Year for 2007.
Combat photographer Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Lock also earned that honor in 2002 and 2005 as he has photographed U.S. servicemembers in action during multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The 15-year Air Force veteran is assigned to the 1st Combat Camera Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. Combat camera photographers document military operations from around the world, and their photos are routinely viewed by senior Pentagon leaders, Sergeant Lock said.
"We're the eyes and ears of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," he said.
Sergeant Lock's photos have appeared in major publications, including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. His photos also are featured in the book titled, "A Day in the Life of the United States' Armed Forces," along with work by 125 of the world's-best photojournalists.
"A good photo will tell the whole story in a split-second of a frame," Sergeant Lock said. "It leaves a lasting impression and will be etched into your mind."
Combat photographers "are pretty much given free rein" wherever they're sent, the 36-year-old said. Working in Iraq last summer, Sergeant Lock took photos of military operations in Mosul and Ramadi.
"We go and search out stories" to photograph, the Dayton, Ohio, native said, noting that combat photographers are normally paired with military combat videographers and embedded with units as they perform their missions.
Sergeant Lock employs two Nikon D2X digital cameras, one fitted with a wide-angle lens, the other with a telephoto, when he photographs combat-zone actions of U.S. servicemembers during "patrols, raids, whatever."
One of Sergeant Lock's most poignant photos among his award-winning portfolio was taken in Iraq in August 2006. The image depicts a grimacing Iraqi citizen sprawled across a Ramadi street. The Iraqi was caught in the middle of a firefight between U.S. troops and insurgents, he said.
"We really don't know who shot him," Sergeant Lock said. "We did a traffic control stop, and right before we mounted up, one of our Soldiers took a bullet to the back and we got into a gunfight. After searching houses, this guy was found lying wounded on his side."
The Iraqi had been hit in the hip, Sergeant Lock said, noting the injured man received medical treatment by U.S. medics and survived. The wounded Iraqi's photo was intentionally taken from an angle, he said.
"I just tried to show the viewer something different than what the normal eye would see," the veteran photographer said.
Sergeant Lock carries a 9 mm Beretta automatic pistol along with his Nikons, "so that when we're put on a team with the Army, Marines and special forces, we become an asset, not a hindrance." Combat troops and their photographers take turns "watching each others' backs," he said.
Sergeant Lock said he has been shot at "quite a few times" during his war-zone tours, but has emerged unscathed. He said his blood pressure rises during such situations. During firefights, "adrenalin starts rushing, and your training kicks in," he said. "I tend not to be scared until the night before a mission or just afterward."
Despite the danger, combat photographers have "the best job in the military," Sergeant Lock said.
"If I want to go flying in a plane one day, I can do that. If I want to go ride in a tank the next day, I can do that," he said. "We have the freedom to be creative and tell stories about many, many people."
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