Just The Photographer with David Swanson

S1E1 Stories My Photos CAN'T Tell

Just The Photographer with David Swanson

Show Notes

THE BLURB: Meet David Swanson, Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist. In this thumbnail introduction to the real world of photojournalism, David tells the stories of how he became a photojournalist and how being one has impacted every facet of his life. It's impossible to see and photograph wars, natural disasters and life's strange twists and turns without getting impacted in return. But, as crazy and chaotic as war zones can be, they can be surprisingly life-affirming, too.

SHOW NOTES Over the course of his 40+ year Pulitzer Prize winning career, David Swanson has pointed his cameras at everything from wars (Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq) to natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina, the Earthquake in Haiti) to Red Carpet Events like the Oscars. Of course, in order to point his camera at those events, David had to be in all those places confronting wars, natural disasters and red carpet events. David cut his photojournalism teeth covering local news around York, PA where he grew up. He began his career interning at newspapers like The Los Angeles Times before settling in for the long haul at The Philadelphia Inquirer for whom David covered Bosnia, Katrina, Iraq and Afghanistan (among other news events).

SOCIAL MEDIA INSTAGRAM: @costardandtouchstone FACEBOOK:

COSTARD & TOUCHSTONE OUR WEBSITE - If you enjoy this podcast, please check out the rest of Costard & Touchstone's growing lineup of story podcasts at https://costardandtouchstone.com! If you enjoy this podcast, please check out the rest of Costard & Touchstone's growing stable of podcasts. You can find them here: Costard & Touchstone Productions – Costard & Touchstone Productions – Great Podcasts, No Foolin'!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from Just The Photographer with David Swanson

Oct 20, 2026

IN THIS EPISODE Jim Domke was a newspaper photographer working in Philadelphia, dealing with the ordinary workaday problems of transporting all of one's gear, which there can be a lot of, and also having it handy. Jim noticed that his particular needs, any photojournalist, were not being met by anything bag-like on the market. So he did what clever, innovative people always do. He created his ideal perfect bag himself and that bag was so good that when other photographers saw it, they wanted one too and thus the Domke bag as a business was born.

Oct 13, 2026

IN THIS EPISODE You may not know Chip Somodevilla’s name, but you most definitely have seen his work. Many times. A photojournalist and staff photographer for Getty Images, Chip covers the White House – a fascinating place to cover in times like these. He’s been doing what he’s doing for as long as he has not just because he’s so good at it – which, of course, he is - but because he understands his unusual working environment and how to navigate it regardless of who is in power. There's really only oe word to describe Chip Somodevilla - he's a professional, a consummate professional.

Oct 6, 2026

IN THIS EPISODE Photojournalist Ethan Swope has a name like a movie hero and, though he's still relatively new to the job, he's already made it to the front page of the New York Times, been published in TIME, via the AP, Getty, Bloomberg and outlets worldwide covering everything from the California wildfires to the war in Ukraine. As a measure of his precosity, he was named 2022 Student Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association. As if that weren't enough, Ethan's a cinematographer, too. As you'll hear, Ethan doesn't just have a name like a movie hero, he's kinda lived his professional life that way, too.

Sep 29, 2026

IN THIS EPISODE Photojournalism is often physically chellenging. One often has to move quickly - in a hostile environement - either to get the photo or get to safety. It's hard enough doing it with four working limbs. This episode will introduce you to two photojournalists who do the job in spite of physical challenges that most people would allow to limit them. John Putman and Ben Hanson are both photojournalist warriors, willing to go wherever they believe the best shot is - the one that best tells the story they're covering.

Sep 22, 2026

IN THIS EPISODE Photojournalist Zin Chiang is fearless, intrepid and quite willing to put everything on the line. Her work focuses on urban societies; she's deeply interested in how inequity in resources can lead to conflict and displacement. She also focuses on human migration and the unexpected challenges that come from it.

See all episodes →