2008 Fellow John Moore covered the disaster on the Louisiana coast during a two-week rotation in May.
“This Gulf disaster was one of the hardest stories I’ve done this year, and with the Haiti earthquake, a month in southern Afghanistan, a trip to the prison in Guantanamo Bay and coverage of the new immigration law in Arizona, it’s been a heavy year. Unlike a war zone, there was no element of danger in the Gulf. But it was one of the more depressing stories I’ve covered. A hopeless environmental situation set to get even worse, and a disastrous long-term prognosis for everyone who makes their living on the coast made it a downer in every way. And because the story was spread out over a long and non-continuous coastline, I was driving very long hours every morning, then shooting all day in the heat and humidity, often out on a boat, then editing and filing, a little sleep and then getting up at sunrise to do it all over again. It was exhausting, and I was only there for two weeks before a quick turnaround at home and then off to South Africa for World Cup news coverage. I really feel for our colleagues who have been covering this disaster from the start, and with no end in sight.”"
Note: This is the first in a series of posts by Dart Society photographers and journalists about the unfolding environmental disaster in the Gulf.
Dear John:
As a fellow traveler on the oil coverage road I appreciate your comments on the toll covering this spill takes on journalists. I’ve found myself working through exhaustion and stuffing the depression. It is a sad thing to see and I appreciate your work covering the spill.