Reportage by Getty Images congratulates Jeff Hutchens for being voted as one of PDN's choices of Top 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch.
"Jeff Hutchens has been travelling his whole life. His father was an English teacher and then a U.S. state department employee; Hutchens grew up in China, South Africa, the Philippines. Now, when he travels, however, he's less interested in documenting the world than in capturing 'a mood that I find in the places I'm travelling,' he says. 'I'm not too concerned with the journalism, storytelling part of it, it's more about self expression for me.' When Maclean's assigned him to document the Khmer Rouge tribunals in 2007, for example, he convinced his editor to run surreal black-and-white shots portraying Cambodia as a country haunted by its tragic history.
When Hutchens was still in high school, he and his older brother, a filmmaker, tried pitching documentary ideas to the National Geographic Channel. 'We had no track record whatsoever, but I think we stuck out in their minds for that.' After some post-college newspaper internships, Hutchens was hired by the Channel to shoot stills. Hutchens photographed a fertility ritual in South Africa and ice climbing in Alaska, but when the job became 'more of a logistical challenge that a creative challenge' he struck out as a freelancer. He used his savings to make a portfolio, taught himself Flash, built a Web site, and funded his own travel assignments. He soon landed representation with Reportage by Getty Images.
Since 2007, he's been shooting still for CNN's 'Planet in Peril' series. He and his filmmaker brother produced a six-hour Discovery Channel documentary about their return to China.
His goal, he says, is 'to make sure my assignments and my personal work are one and the same, so I create something where I'm artistically satisfied, but it works for the clients as well.' He notes, 'That's a little scary at first, because I'm trying to show something different. But at the same time, when you are showing work that matches up with the clients' needs then it's wonderful.' "- Holly Stuart Hughes
Reportage would also like to congratulate Emerging Talent Chiara Goia and Toni Greaves for also being votes as choices of Top 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch.
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