Index Stock Imagery, Inc.: Mitch Diamond, Bob Winsett, and Mike Hipple offer us an opportunity to see through their experience

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June 09, 2005

Mitch Diamond, Bob Winsett, and Mike Hipple offer us an opportunity to see through their experience

By Pat Hunt

Pictures tell stories - emotional stories, life-changing stories. But, sometimes pictures need to be supported by words. Words that give background to the stories and tell of the creators, their inspirations and their dreams. Stock photographers are storytellers by nature, and have a need for adventure, travel, learning and excitement. This is the background of three of those storytellers, allowing us to follow along with the artists as they go on their creative journey.

Mitch Diamond, Bob Winsett, and Mike Hipple offer us an opportunity to see through their lens and capture their experience:

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Mitch Diamond

Photographers are adventurers by nature. It must be something in the creative spirit. Otherwise why do they travel to remote corners of the world, getting in the middle of war zones and standing in harm’s way?

Well, Mitch Diamond has been the epitome of a dangerous adventurer, and each trip begins to sound like a death wish. However Mitch has an undying curiosity, desire to learn and love of the unknown. This is exemplified by a few of his adventures:

One outing took him on a trip for National Geo to the Outback of Australia. The Outback is the size of the United States but all dessert. There is a 2000-mile straight road called Nullarbar, that is so rough one seldom sees human life. Along the way, there are occasional roadhouses as rest stops and gas stations. Some contain more "town” than others.

As Mitch hitchhiked everywhere, he ventured on a trek from Perth to Adelaide over the only road available. Hospitality is keen in Australia, and a helpful ‘pick up’ may net some dinner in a home and a bed for the night. After waiting 8 hours for someone to come along, Mitch found a helpful soul who trucked him to the Kalgoorlie Roadhouse and village. He strolled the town while awaiting the gas-up, and returned to a vacant lot - the truck missing and his belongings disappeared. Gone were his water, food, clothes and precious address book of all safety contacts to the outside world. At least he had his money and camera equipment in his backpack. As luck would have it, this criminal, wanted for ‘grand theft auto’ was later found 400 miles away, and Mitch was able to recover most of his belongings - Is that luck or what?

If that wasn’t enough, Mitch decided to take his new bride on a honeymoon to Zambia in Africa. Well, this was no Niagara Falls! Unbeknownst to them the government had just raised the price of the country’s staple of maize. It seems that this act of injustice merited a raft of looting and rioting in the streets. As Mitch and his wife were waiting in the bus shed with 12 Africans, they found themselves sprayed with teargas, a skin burning sensation so severe it felt fatal.

Upon hearing shots they ran to an alley of shack houses and attempted to hide. Once again, as luck would have it, one gate was left unlocked and they found a small hose to wash off the teargas, waiting for hours to venture out. Soldiers and tanks were in abundance, and thirty people had been killed. They got to a phone, located a friend for shelter and remained in home lock down for days. So much for a leisurely and glamorous honeymoon.

Mitch’s recent travels drew him ‘North to Alaska’. Not being satisfied with safe views from the ground, Mitch decided to join a small six-seater plane, venturing toward the famous Mt. McKinley. Mt. McKinley is not only the highest mountain in North America, but it sports one of the highest vertical rises in the world. We’re talking 18,000 feet, as compared to 11,000 feet of Mr. Everest, the world’s tallest peak. In addition to that it is considered to be one of the most dangerous mountains in the world because of the severe and sudden weather changes. The mountain is so massive that it makes it’s own weather, and the peaks can only be seen once or twice a month in summer because of the moving weather patterns.

These bush pilots are top pros, whose job it is to fly into remote areas for fire and emergencies that can’t be accessed by boat or road. They took off sixty miles away from Talkeetna, Alaska, and the range was barely visible. Approaching Ruth Glacier, which goes straight up into Mt. McKinley, they began to see some awesome views. According to Mitch: “One moment we were looking at sculptured snowy ridges, and the next moment we were in cloud cover with mountains surrounding us. Not knowing when we would pop out into blue sky, or how close we were to giant peaks was scary and unnerving, yet exhilarating!” The plane hovers at 11,000 to 12,000 feet, and Mt. McKinley is 20,000 feet, so the fear of flying right into the mountain was ever present.

They made a daring landing at base camp, which has a very small landing strip, visible by a very short break in the clouds. Climbers are dropped off at base camp to get their gear ready, and only 50% of the climbers make it to the top. As Mitch was there in July, climbers were only coming down as they were approaching avalanche season. It took 1 ½ hours to catch a break and make for the sky through the clouds, as the weather varied wildly. Mitch returned with some rare photos of breathtaking peaks and glaciers, only possible with someone who is willing to “live on the edge”!

BHUTAN - REMOTE PARADISE

Bob Winsett

Who goes to Bhutan? Where is it? This remote and exotic country is at the foothills of the Himalayas. Only 7000 tourists a year make it into Bhutan. Anyone coming in has to spend a $200/day surtax to be allowed. This gets you room, board and a visa. This was a perfect draw to outdoor stock photographer Bob Winsett, who made the trek in 1999.

The country was only open to the public in the late ‘70s, as it is sheltered from Tibet, on the other side of the mountains, and its main political ally is India. It’s Oxford educated king is very protective of the indigenous people, whose lives are totally engulfed by the national religion - Tantric Buddhism. Religion permeates all of daily life, from the plating of crops to doing business, to family life and getting married.

Bob steeped himself in the culture and the beauty. Trekking in Bhutan is not for the faint of heart, as adjusting to passes over 15,000 feet above sea level requires some stamina. These trails lead to monasteries, like that of Sangchoeher, looking over a 1000-foot cliff. Being greeted by monks who seldom see foreign faces, was “mesmerizing, as we were invited into the centuries-old temple and stepped back in time. Incense mingles with the sounds of metal, Tibetan-style horns and ceremonial drums, and the chanting monks read from hand-written Sanskrit manuscripts wreaking of history.”

On the third day they hiked to Laktsang Lhakhang, a temple complex and pilgrim site of thirteen holy places in three buildings. They met the spiritual equivalent of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and took the spirit of the Holy pilgrimage as their own.

Nine days of trekking brought them yaks, blue sheep, culinary experiences, breathtaking views and gracious kind people, who did not want them to leave. According to Bob, “on the usual steep trip down, the sounds of cuckoos and the occasional Buddhist shrine encountered on the trail were constant reminders of how truly special and unspoiled this place is. It is important to protect and preserve a way of life that has existed for centuries.” WWW.BOBWINSETT.COM

SECRETS, LIES & VIDEOTAPE

Mike Hipple

Not everyone shoots harried CEO’s for annual reports, or widgets on seamless for product catalogs. Some folks stir up the mud and make us wonder about the society in which we live. One of these adventurers is Mike Hipple from Washington State. He’s been hanging nearly upside down in bi-planes, and working with drug companies to help cure MS. But his most harrowing adventure was an assignment for a story about government whistleblowers in the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State.

A four-hour drive over arid desert in the middle of nowhere to the eastern part of the state brought him to a sign on the road that read: “Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere!” According to Mike, the stage was set, as the whole area looked “arid, black and tan - it seemed like the end of the world out there.” Oddly enough, the roads were built three lanes wide in either direction with no one on them to allow aircraft to land in the event of an emergency.

For such a lonely place, he had no trouble being shadowed by cops, who eyed him and let him keep driving. The first “whistleblower” he met still lived in the area. The interview was full of harrowing stories of contamination, strange barrels, people with large tumors and women with deformed children. This fellow had been a truck driver assigned to pick up barrels and transport them from point A to point B. He had the nerve to ask what he was transporting - seeping, rusting barrels were a curiosity, to say the least.

The rewards for his questioning were slashed tires in his truck and smashed windows in his home. His foreman chased him with a bat and forced him to hide in a storage closet; his co-workers handed him a “Spoon Award” - a large spoon given because he was “stirring up shit.” Needless to say, he got fired with no warning and sued under the protection of the “Whistleblowers Act, winning a undisclosed settlement. He’s now on a plant ‘watch list’.

Mitch and the Whistleblower drove to the plant and were stopped by a cop for allegedly trespassing. The cop offered the information that they were standing on “contaminated soil, and that nuclear waste was now clinging to the soles of our shoes.” They grabbed a few pictures of the plant and moved on. Luckily without harm. Makes you wonder!
WWW.HIPPHOTO.COM

Author, Pat Hunt, is VP of Corporate Relations at Index Stock Imagery, and a writer for various photographic publications. (path@indexstock.com)

Posted by masterjay at June 9, 2005 02:05 PM