{"id":28475,"date":"2017-09-07T17:23:14","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T17:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/distribution\/blog\/2017-09-07\/dare-document-qa-bloomberg-photographer-daniel-acker\/"},"modified":"2017-10-11T20:22:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T20:22:54","slug":"dare-document-qa-bloomberg-photographer-daniel-acker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/distribution\/blog\/2017-09-07\/dare-document-qa-bloomberg-photographer-daniel-acker\/","title":{"rendered":"Dare to Document: Q&amp;A With Bloomberg Photographer Daniel Acker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<em>Daniel Acker is a freelance photographer based in Illinois, where he covers a number of subjects central to Bloomberg\u2019s business and financial coverage. Our team recently sat down with Daniel to discuss his career path, past and current projects, and his passion for photojournalism.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>What has been your favorite story to cover for Bloomberg?<\/strong><br \/>\nThis is a question I\u2019m asked quite often, and it\u2019s extremely difficult to answer. My camera has accompanied me on many adventures, and although some journeys are short, and others have lasted days or weeks, they have all left an impression.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year I had the opportunity to spend a week on the North Slope of Alaska in Prudhoe Bay. I was there along with Bloomberg reporter Alex Nussbaum checking out oil operations in the area. It was February, and the temperature was well into negative territory. As challenging as those conditions can be, I could have stayed for weeks and never grown tired. The stark, snow-covered landscape was captivating, and early one morning while traveling on an ice-road over the Beaufort Sea I took a moment to just watch the taillights of the vehicle in front of me dance over the frost covered windshield separating us. It was only a moment, but it reminded me how fortunate I am to do this for a living. If it weren\u2019t for my camera I simply wouldn\u2019t have had access to that place. It\u2019s a feeling don\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend the day at Dubuque Clamp Works in Dubuque, Iowa. The company is owned by Keith and Edna Clark, a husband and wife team producing what are widely regarded in woodworking circles as the best wooden hand-screw clamps money can buy. They only employ a few people and have managed to weather the challenges of cheaply made overseas products flooding the market. It was a beautiful summer day, the doors were open and a slight breeze blew through the shop. As we stood amongst machines that Keith had largely built by hand, we talked about life, politics, business, and everything in between. We wrapped up the day sitting on the shop floor, eating ice-cream sandwiches from a stash Edna keeps in a mini-fridge. A simple assignment, but one that reminded me take a moment to enjoy the small things in life, regardless of the outside pressures to the contrary.<\/p>\n<p>The wide variety of subjects I\u2019m assigned to photograph keep me thinking, growing as a human, and striving to produce the best possible images. Any job that touches on those areas gets added to my favorites list.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;28476&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; show_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;28477&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; show_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>You were included in Bloomberg\u2019s Best of 2016. What did it mean to be included in the selection of the strongest photos of the year?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019ve been a part of the Bloomberg photo team in one capacity or another since June of 2000. I joined the team straight out of college. In fact, I drove a U-Haul truck from Rochester, New York where I attended RIT to Manhattan for my first interview. I illegally parked the truck on 63rd Street, changed into a suit in the back, took my shaving kit inside and finished getting ready! This was a Thursday, and I started on staff the following Monday. I worked on staff in NYC until 2010, when I relocated to the Midwest and began working on contract.<\/p>\n<p>I mention this because in many ways Bloomberg has defined my professional career, and I\u2019ve grown alongside the department as it matured from the early days of collecting corporate head shots, to the worldwide 24-7 news operation it is today. Being a part of the Best of 2016 is truly humbling. The quality of the imagery is remarkable, and somehow this group manages to improve every year without exception. It\u2019s an honor to have my images displayed with others from around the world. It also motivates me to be the best photographer I can be, because if I\u2019m not on that list, I\u2019m not working hard enough. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;28479&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; show_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>You recently covered the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois for a story about the future of farming. What was the experience like? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since my relocation to the Midwest in 2010 agriculture has been a recurring subject, and one that I enjoy greatly. The Farm Progress Show is the Detroit Auto Show of the agriculture world, and it is held in alternating years in Illinois and Iowa. I\u2019ve covered many auto shows over the years, and this had a similar feeling. Manufacturer booths displaying the latest and greatest in farm tech, which on the tractor and implement side of things often means larger and more powerful tools. For example, one company had a field sprayer on display which blew me away. This machine sits on tall skinny tires and the cab can be raised and lowered to ensure the crops aren\u2019t being run over as it moves through the field spraying fertilizer, weed control chemicals etc. There are retractable boom arms which extend left and right like wings. The larger the wings, the fewer times you have to cross a field to cover its entirety. This particular unit had a 132\u2019 boom. Imagine driving through a field at 20 MPH with 60+ feet of boom on either side of you. It is a remarkable piece of equipment.<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking this is the trend in agriculture from a commercial grower standpoint. Everything continues to get larger, allowing farmers to work more ground with fewer people. From the days of the tenant farmer, each working 80 or 100 acre plots we\u2019ve progressed to 3,000+ acre farm operations run by only a handful of people. Advances in machinery are what has made this transition possible, and it was on full display during the show.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;28484&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; show_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;28485&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; show_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>How much creative control do you have over the photo stories you are assigned? <\/strong><br \/>\nBloomberg is a great organization in this regard. They expect photographers to adhere to the highest ethical standards, but also encourage visual experimentation and risk taking. As a photographer you can\u2019t ask for more. I\u2019ve never been told \u201cthis is the picture we expect to see\u201d when discussing an upcoming assignment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What skills have been key in getting you where you are today?<\/strong><br \/>\nI think my biggest asset beyond some innate creativity is being able to converse and interact with a wide ranging and diverse group of subjects. As I touched upon earlier the stories I cover vary greatly. You have to be able to walk into a room of strangers, and engage with them. You don&#8217;t have the benefit of time in some cases, and quickly making them comfortable with you and your camera is crucial. You have to maintain objectivity and not confuse being friendly with being a friend.<\/p>\n<p>My job is to document the world around me as I find it, not allow someone else\u2019s viewpoint to shift that reality into what they see as a more favorable light. I\u2019ll borrow from the words of a Bloomberg freelance colleague, Victor Blue. Vic is one of the most articulate and gifted photojournalists working today, and he summed it up in a recent interview better than I ever could. I\u2019m paraphrasing here, but the gist is that you may not like the way you look in photographs or what you see in them, but you\u2019ll never be able to say something didn\u2019t happen that way. That it\u2019s not true. That, at the end of the day, is what this job is all about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What makes a great photo?<\/strong><br \/>\nOne of the greatest things about photography is the subjective nature of it. I\u2019ve had many lively discussions with friends and colleagues about images and their \u201cgreatness.\u201d We don\u2019t always agree, but I cannot sidestep one crucial aspect for me personally, and that is objective truth. No matter how a photographer uses light, composition, and all the underlying tenants of photography in a general sense, if an image isn\u2019t grounded in objective truth, it will never be great in my mind. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<em>&#8211; Gabriela Tama<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"excerpt\">Our team recently sat down with Daniel to discuss his career, past and current projects, and his passion for photojournalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1618,"featured_media":28491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1910],"tags":[2569,2372,1180,2568,1216,2466,43],"class_list":["post-28475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-qa","tag-bloomberg-media-distribution","tag-editorial","tag-industry","tag-media-source","tag-photojournalism","tag-photos","tag-qa","product-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ 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