Newstalk Magazine is available now for free from the Apple app store.

Although predominantly known as a photographer, Ireland’s Ross McDonnell established a solid reputation in the world of documentary filmmaking following his 2009 debut feature (co-directed with Carter Gunn) about the world of US beekeepers, in the award-winning, ‘Colony’. Born in Dublin in 1979 he has worked as a photographer, cinematographer and director.

His work has been published by Time, The New York Times, Art in America, The Observer, The Washington Post and Esquire among others. He has received grants and awards from The Jerome Foundation, The Irish Film Board and The Simon Cumbers Foundation. More recently, McDonnell has documented a new chapter in Mexico’s enduring battle against violent crime entitled ‘Vigilantes’, which shows communities in Guerrero state taking the law into their own hands.

Newstalk Magazine caught up with McDonnell just before an exhibition of his work in Paris, November 2013.

Tapair Nadir Khan, horse-riding at sunset, Afghanistan, 2012

You describe yourself as an ‘image maker’ rather than a photographer or filmmaker, why?

In an age where everybody is a photographer (and everybody is actually a pretty good photographer) it is my job as a professional 'image maker' to somehow help guide the discourse about the visual world. Essentially, in the stories I work on I'm trying to create narrative through images. From a personal perspective I'm always looking for ways into a story that are subjective, that I feel have lots of visual qualities that I can bring to an audience in a new and captivating way. That can mean using films, photographs… documents. Whatever works for that particular story.

You’ve shot in some exotic locations with some potentially harmful insects (bees) and the odd rock star (Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire). What has been your career highlight to date?

In no particular order: getting challenged by a spear wielding tribal chief for the hand of a Turkana bride at a traditional wedding ceremony. Crossing the Khyber Pass between Afghanistan and Pakistan on foot. And surviving a bee sting straight to the eyeball.

Trailer for Colony, 2009

Bees. How did their plight come to your attention, and what motivated you to document them?

I first became aware of Colony Collapse Disorder in early 2007 when it began making news in the US. I thought it was an incredible story that spoke on many levels about the great problems that we as a species face—food supply, the destruction of our environment [and] community. The fact that these things could be represented by the plight of the humble honeybee was an amazing entry point to the story.

Then you did something completely different with ‘Joyrider’ and subsequently ‘Remember Me, My Ghost’, in Ballymun. What attracted you to that area?

My focus on Ballymun was something I began in 2005 when I visited Ballymun one Halloween night. I've been photographing in the community ever since.

Ballymun Halloween 2005

You’re now based in Mexico City, how come?

I travelled to Mexico for the first time in 2010 at the height of the drug war, to work on a documentary called ‘Muerte & Me’. It was like a documentary film noir about the culture of death in Mexico.

It seems strange to say that at such a low point for the country I was possessed to move there, but I was captivated by the history, culture, and the people—and was slowly seduced by the Mexican way of life. I find it a great place to live.

“Early in 2013 photographer Ross McDonnell travelled along winding mountain roads in Guerrero state, Mexico, to witness the opening of a new chapter in the country’s enduring battle against organised crime.”

You’re working more now with the likes of Time, HBO and the big news agencies. How do your skills as an editorial, feature-based photographer and image-maker cross over into the news arena?

I think that although I like to be very close to news stories, I'll always be someone who's looking for something different within a bigger story or social issue.

More and more I want to focus on long-form projects rather than working in news. Oftentimes in the field, you are working as (or like) a journalist which is exciting and challenging. I find however that trying to make photographs or films that I'm interested in… perhaps the context for them is not in the news media. Instead I'm trying to use different processes… techniques to create series and stories that find an audience outside of the news market.

Where do you think news is going in this ‘digital age’?

Well, content is king in the digital age, and my feeling is that ultimately the news industry has compromised in the online space by its reliance on advertising to generate revenue. We now live in an economy of Likes, clicks and hits. The mainstream news media has adapted to provide us continuous content… whether all of it is news of course is open to debate.

Guerrero – San Juan Las Palmas

On the other hand of course, actual breaking news is happening on the smartphones of Egyptian activists, Syrian bloggers and on Twitter and YouTube. Great journalism and journalists still have to contextualise these sources, verify them and make them appeal to their readership.

In the same way that photographers such as myself have looked towards focusing on the physical object (the photo book, the gallery show) to communicate as photographers away from the online world, so too great journalists are honing their work to create revenue outside the online news machine, [through] books, workshops… literary festivals.

I think we're seeing a kind of fetishisation of craft right now in reaction to the omnipresence of digital in our lives. How long it can survive is difficult to say.

 

Kabul Afghanistan, 2012

What do you think of the attempts of the Guardian et al at making their photographic essays more experiential for the user?

I think it's fantastic. Having spent ten years building parallel careers as a photographer, cinematographer and director; seeing these worlds finally merging and become fully integrated is brilliant for me. Maybe that's where the idea of being an 'image maker' comes from, in that you criss-cross these worlds, often at the same time.

Platforms like Nowness and Time Magazine's Lightbox are really making the most of this area and I've enjoyed working with them on projects. 

Are you on Instagram?

I'm not. I probably should be though right? I see some incredible photographs people are taking there. To my credit I'm a bit of a Tumblr freak so I am not totally in the social media middle ages. I run rossmcdonnell.tumblr.com and thepanorama.tumblr.com. The majority of images on both are taken with the iPhone.

Have you ever taken a ‘selfie’?

Who hasn't?!

What’s next for you?

2014 is a big year. I've been working in Afghanistan on and off since 2007 focusing almost completely on stories about Afghans. With an election and the withdrawal of the Americans this year I want to really put my work from Afghanistan out there in the media and mainly into the gallery world.

How does being Irish inform what you do, if at all?

Obviously being Irish is a great passport when abroad. We're not at war with anyone, we do a lot of good in impoverished places and generally everyone empathises with the Irish for many different reasons. People really do open up to the Irish and automatically regard you as someone to be greeted as a friend.

It's a difficult thing to describe but it's definitely a blessing.

What are the most important qualities someone in your field of work needs?

Curiosity. And patience. One of which I have in spades and the other I lack completely.

This article originally appeared in Newstalk Magazine for iPad in January, for more details go here.