Part of the thrill of working at Scoopt is never knowing what photos are going to arrive each day. Our members constantly surprise us with their ability to find the news and take great photos. None more so than Justin Armstrong – a US soldier who managed to hold a camera in one hand and a gun in the other and make a photographic record of his tour of duty in Iraq.
Justin was in Iraq for 15 months and during that time took an estimated 10,000 photos. His platoon nick-named him the Combat Camera Man and through his photos he has been able to piece together the story of his platoon and provide an insight into what daily life was like for both the soldiers and the civilians living in a war zone. Julian sent some of his photos to Scoopt and we were all delighted when one of them was licensed by AOL. You can see his photos in the Scoopt Gallery by searching on his name.
We asked Justin if he could pass on any advice:
“If I were able to give advice to a soldier in a combat zone that loves photography, I would have to say first and foremost you have to take many, many photos to get a few good ones.....but I would also tell them that any photo can turn out to be an awesome shot. A lot of pictures I took that at the time didn't seem important or even good pictures turned out to be some of the best and most memorable. Whatever you do and however you do it, remember to be safe and you will learn, eventually, how to balance photography and soldiering.”
Julian has now swapped the heat of the Middle East for the snows of Alaska and has taken up landscape and wildlife photography. Any day now we should be selling his snaps of the Yeti…
