By Balazs Gardi
How did you get started in photography? I followed the suggestion of my grandmother and instead of becoming a ditch digger after high school—as I had initially planned—I started studying photography. I always had a hunch that classrooms weren’t my place to learn about life, but at the time I didn’t know how profoundly this choice would alter the person I came to be.
What drew you to worldwide water issues? Over my career, I’ve photographed a range of subjects, from tensions between rich and poor to full-blown wars. After some time, patterns emerged, and it became apparent that the ultimate source of conflict could very likely be water. None of us can live without it.
Why did you decide to launch Azdarya, the online documentary magazine about water conflicts? After spending nearly a decade systematically photographing our relationship to water, I realized that it is not only an extremely complex issue, but also that covering the story exceeds one person’s capability. I hope Azdarya grows to be a place where people come to see and discuss important work from a vast array of great visual storytellers.
How do you balance your time spent on journalism and advertising? Advertising and corporate work make it possible to spend as much time as I need with the subjects I care about. It is the means that grants me complete editorial and creative freedom, so it is pretty easy to find the right balance.
I avoid working with clients whose business contributes to the problems I’m trying to address with my journalistic work. Since I foot the bill for my documentary projects, I have to make sure I can spend enough time on both kinds of assignments. As long as I am able to keep it this way, there isn’t much tension to manage.
What is the most exciting thing that happened on a shoot and how did you handle it? I had to photograph three airplanes flying in close formation over the Cliffs of Dover for Red Bull Air Race. I hopped in a double-seater plane, and I asked my pilot to flip the belly up and put me on top of the formation as close as he could. He did a spotless job of “zooming in and out,” slightly adjusting our position to less than ten feet away from the other airplanes. Later on, when I assured him I had no idea how could he possibly do those maneuvers with such precision while hanging upside down, he gave me a short answer with a smirk on his face: I don’t know either.
Are you ever afraid on assignment? I was a frequent visitor in Afghanistan during the decade that followed the 9/11 attacks. When I could’t get to a new region on my own, I joined various NATO troops and often ended up documenting the lives of fighters and civilians in deadly combat zones. I learned to manage my fear in firefights but I never got used to the foot patrols in the land mine–laced southern provinces.
What do you think of the photography industry at the moment and where do you see it headed? With photography being so ubiquitous, it is very challenging to produce work that remains relevant. On the other hand, technology provides us unprecedented chances to publish and discuss our work directly with a devoted audience. Regardless how the industry handles this bumpy ride, these are exciting times to be a photographer.
What are your dreams for the future of your own freelance career? I feel really privileged to have been able to work with subjects and clients I like. All I can ask for is more challenging work that forces me to push my own boundaries.
What drew you to worldwide water issues? Over my career, I’ve photographed a range of subjects, from tensions between rich and poor to full-blown wars. After some time, patterns emerged, and it became apparent that the ultimate source of conflict could very likely be water. None of us can live without it.
Why did you decide to launch Azdarya, the online documentary magazine about water conflicts? After spending nearly a decade systematically photographing our relationship to water, I realized that it is not only an extremely complex issue, but also that covering the story exceeds one person’s capability. I hope Azdarya grows to be a place where people come to see and discuss important work from a vast array of great visual storytellers.
How do you balance your time spent on journalism and advertising? Advertising and corporate work make it possible to spend as much time as I need with the subjects I care about. It is the means that grants me complete editorial and creative freedom, so it is pretty easy to find the right balance.
I avoid working with clients whose business contributes to the problems I’m trying to address with my journalistic work. Since I foot the bill for my documentary projects, I have to make sure I can spend enough time on both kinds of assignments. As long as I am able to keep it this way, there isn’t much tension to manage.
What is the most exciting thing that happened on a shoot and how did you handle it? I had to photograph three airplanes flying in close formation over the Cliffs of Dover for Red Bull Air Race. I hopped in a double-seater plane, and I asked my pilot to flip the belly up and put me on top of the formation as close as he could. He did a spotless job of “zooming in and out,” slightly adjusting our position to less than ten feet away from the other airplanes. Later on, when I assured him I had no idea how could he possibly do those maneuvers with such precision while hanging upside down, he gave me a short answer with a smirk on his face: I don’t know either.
Are you ever afraid on assignment? I was a frequent visitor in Afghanistan during the decade that followed the 9/11 attacks. When I could’t get to a new region on my own, I joined various NATO troops and often ended up documenting the lives of fighters and civilians in deadly combat zones. I learned to manage my fear in firefights but I never got used to the foot patrols in the land mine–laced southern provinces.
What do you think of the photography industry at the moment and where do you see it headed? With photography being so ubiquitous, it is very challenging to produce work that remains relevant. On the other hand, technology provides us unprecedented chances to publish and discuss our work directly with a devoted audience. Regardless how the industry handles this bumpy ride, these are exciting times to be a photographer.
What are your dreams for the future of your own freelance career? I feel really privileged to have been able to work with subjects and clients I like. All I can ask for is more challenging work that forces me to push my own boundaries.
Oakland, California–based freelance photographer Balazs Gardi is most well known for documenting the everyday lives of diverse communities in great need. He travels to the corners of the earth to follow inspiring stories, and his independent exploration into the far-reaching consequences of the global water crisis recently evolved into Azdarya, an online magazine solely dedicated to water. In the past fifteen years, he has worked with numerous major corporate clients—including Red Bull and the non-profit organization CRESI—and has been published by leading editorial outlets, including Foreign Policy. He was awarded the Willie Vicoy Reuters Fellowship from the School of Journalism for Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. Gardi also has a devoted following of more than 75,000 users on Instagram at @balazsgardi.
