Tomás Munita is a Chilean documentary photographer with a primary interest in social and environmental issues. His work has taken him to document life in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Latin America, and been shown in exhibitions in Germany, Poland, and Chile. 

 

For many years a regular photographer for The New York Times and other international news media, Munita, 47, started out working as a photographer for a newspaper in Chile before later taking a job with Associated Press in Panama. In a story about Munita in The New York Times in September 2012, Munita said that his work for the Associated Press was an important training ground for him, teaching him "to be fast and sharp, to look for synthesis in my images.”

 

Munita is the winner of many awards including the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (2006) for his photo essay on Kabul; the Visa D´or Daily News (2012) award for his reporting on the Syrian conflict; as well as four World Press Photo Awards, two in 2006, and 2013 and 2017 for his coverage of the earthquake in Pakistan and the Maras guerilla group in El Salvador.

 

His photo reporting in Latin America has also covered diverse topics, such as guano extraction in Peru, a photo essay on the death of the Loa River in the Atacama Desert, change in Cuba, and the Patagonian Cowboys, for which he won the Gabriel García Marquez Award.

 

As part of a special series of interviews with some of the panel of judges for the 2023 Patagonia Photo Contest, Patagon Journal recently interviewed Munita.

 

 

 

 

My advice is always the same, do what you really believe in. Documentary photography is very a powerful tool for telling stories. It is important to first learn the language of photography. Once you feel ready, just try to cover the stories you want to. Don’t wait to find a job that sends you where you would like to work. Many young photographers ask me how I manage to travel the world taking photos and how to start a career in photography. My answer is work wherever you can, try to save money, and then spend it on traveling or photographing those stories that matter most to you. You might end up getting assignments to photograph places you want to visit. But the most beautiful photographic experiences are always those when you are on your own.

 

I don’t have a clear answer on that. Personally, I don’t like Instagram and I don't consume photography on social media. I am sure that it is an incredible tool but I think it creates anxiety in those that consume it.  Does it cheapen art? I don't really care. I just wish that young Instagrammers would spend more time reading books or watching movies than scrolling through hundreds of pictures and short videos a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technology is always improving sensors and improving quality.  I see cameras as a tool, and they usually come full with little gadgets that don’t help in the process of observation. At the end of the day, it is just technology. Is it good or bad? It is just technology. The trick is to not get caught up thinking too much about the tools. The language of photography is what most matters. 

 

I am interested in photos that say something, that communicate something in a sensitive and powerful way. A good photo is not just about clicking at the right moment. It has to transport you somewhere and evoke feelings in the viewer. The technical aspects are essential but are secondary. What matters most is the use of the language, the harmony, the expression it creates.