Indian women wait to cast their vote at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan, India.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times
A year ago, after eight years with Getty Images, photographer Daniel Berehulak left his staff position and set out as a freelancer.
Berehulak’s subsequent work for the New York Times, coupled with a POYI win and a Chris Hondros Award, are testament to the 38-year-old’s talent. A solo show opening in New York this week highlights Berehulak’s recent work from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past five years.
Born in Australia to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Berehulak began his photography career at the turn of the millennium as a freelance sports photographer in his native Australia. He covered sports, for the most part, before taking a staff position as a news photographer with Getty Images in 2005. Berehulak’s first real news assignment came before he even officially started with Getty when, en route to London, he was dispatched to cover an earthquake on an island off the coast of Indonesia. “I flew 36 hours,” he racalls, “had to talk my way on to a military vessel. I had no idea what a fixer was and no translator. I didn’t have a satellite phone, no way of transmitting my images.” Photojournalists from Associated Press and Reuters came to Berehulak’s aid, helping him file — and one even lent him $50 to get off the island at the end of the assignment.
In London, Berehulak found himself predominantly shooting news — and doubting his own abilities.
“The photographers I worked alongside loved the news cycle and the hustle and getting that front page of the newspaper,” he says. “But I wanted to be out in the field in conflict areas, documenting real life rather than political theater.”
Between 2006-2007, Berehulak was dispatched to cover the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl, Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan, the food crisis in Nadjir and the trial of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of James Nachtwey, David Guttenfelder and John Moore he realized how hard they worked and was inspired by their dedication and their methods.
By 2009, Getty relocated Berehulak to India, where he was given the freedom to drive his own stories. He also consistently worked in Pakistan, learning from colleagues like Adrees Latif and Kevin Frayer.
Berehulak’s coverage of the 2010 Pakistan floods was among the most dramatic of the monumental disaster; a year later Berehulak returned, to find and re-photograph individuals in their new lives amid the devastation.
Despite these successes, Getty then assigned Berehulak to cover sports: a four-week assignment to shoot the Cricket World Cup meant he was unavailable to cover the Japanese tsunami — the year’s biggest news story.
“The pros of being a staff photographer [were] a steady salary, having equipment provided and expenses paid [and having my work] disseminated across the globe.” However, Berehulak adds, “there was the added frustration that I didn’t own the copyright of my own photographs for the duration of my career.”
Since going freelance, Berehulak has shot multiple stories for the New York Times, including several in Afghanistan. He also covered Nelson Mandela’s funeral in South Africa last December, Brazil in the build-up to the World Cup and, most recently, a piece in Somalia.
“At Getty I would have 20 different options for the same kind of event, rather than focusing on the one image that will summarize the story. Over the past 12 months, I have been approaching my work very differently, and it has helped me grow in terms of how I approach a story.”
Berehulak says that while his images for the New York Times stories get syndicated, compared to his exposure through Getty, he’s seeing fewer of them being used by other publications. “But with social media to disseminate stories,” he says, “I feel my work has been reaching a larger audience and having more impact.”
In May 2014, Berehulak was named the winner of the Chris Hondros Award. “The award totally overshadowed anything else I had won,” he says. “It’s humbling to be associated in any way with Chris.” Hondros, it turns out, had a significant influence on Berehulak. “He would sit me down like a younger brother and explain things to me. ‘This is what you have to do.’ The biggest thing he drove home was the importance of covering stories regardless of the risk and situation. People have to be out there.”
The monetary aspect of the award — which comes in at $20,000 — “comes without pressure as to how to use it,” Berehulak notes, “but with that comes responsibility, knowing the dedication and devotion that Chris had to photojournalism.”
Berehulak is considering using the award money for a personal project, to be planned out over the next six months to a year.
Daniel Berehulak is a freelance photographer represented by Reportage by Getty Images. He works frequently on assignment for the New York Times.
The exhibition Daniel Berehulak: Afghanistan, India and Pakistan opensJune 18 at 6pm at Site 109 Gallery in New York.
Indian women wait to cast their vote at a polling station on April 17, 2014 in the Jodhpur District in the desert state of Rajasthan, India.
Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesA young vaquiero, or cowboy, herds cows (unseen) to pasture below the towering 150ft high pillars of an abandoned bridge destined to be part of the Transnordestina railway project cutting through farm lands on February 4, 2014 near Paulistana, Piaui province, in Northern Eastern Brazil. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesResidents walk home after catching a transport vehicle up the steep and windy road to the top of their favela, make their way past the abandoned cable car station in the Providência favela on February 17, 2014 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesA woman stands on the roof of a home in a favela overlooking the Bonocô neighborhood as the abandoned metro system stretches off into the distance on February 13, 2014 in Salvador, Brazil. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesYoung parishioners offer prayers during Sunday mass in commemoration of the late Nelson Mandela at the Regina Mundi Roman Catholic church in Soweto on December 8, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesANA soldiers from the 6th Kandhak, 4th Brigade of the 203rd corp advance during a re-supply mission in the Chak valley on November 11, 2013 near Dasht-e Langar, Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesAfghan Army and Police, seen through the front window of a humvee, travel down highway 1 near Sayadabad on November 3, 2013 in Sayadabad, Wardak Province, Afghanistan.Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesSargeant Sayed Wazir, 40, a former mujahadeen fighter from Khost province, yells "Allahu Akhbar" (God is great) as he fires a Russian made BM-12, 107mm rocket, using a car battery, towards Taliban positions in surrounding hills, in the village of Zamankhil where the Taliban has it's district headquarters, on November 11, 2013 in Zamankhil village in the Chak valley, Wardak Province, Afghanistan.
Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesAfghan men, cover themselves as they smoke opium, to ensure all of the smoke doesn't escape, in a drug community comprising of over 500 addicts, on the outskirts of the city on October 3, 2013 in Herat, Afghanistan.Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesAfghan drug addicts rest in a private-run shelter, offering them food, showers to wash themselves and their clothes, and a place to sleep, on October 02, 2013 in Herat, Afghanistan. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesDrug addicts admitted as part of a 45 day rehabilitation program take part in daily activities on Oct 25, 2013, at the Addicts Hospital in Herat, AfghanistanDaniel Berehulak—The New York Times8-month-old Samiullah, suffering from what doctors call marasmus, another sign of advanced malnutrition in which the child’s
face looks like that of a wrinkled old man because skin hangs on it so loosely, is held by his mother Islam Bibi, 15, from Marjah district, as they receive treatment on a plastic mattress in an administrative office due to overcrowding in the Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centre (ITFC) wards, at the Bost Hospital, a Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) assisted hospital, on September 23, 2013 in Lashkar Gah, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesAfghan women test the appetite of their children, as part of an assessment of their malnutrition levels, at an outreach therapeutic feeding program on Oct. 13, 2013. Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesA mother lays with her malnourished child, receiving treatment at the Indira Gandhi Children Hospital on September 21, 2013 in Kabul, Afghanistan.Daniel Berehulak—The New York TimesHindu devotees bathe on the banks of Sangam, the confluence of the holy Ganges and Yamuna rivers during the auspicious bathing day of Makar Sankranti , the start of the Maha Kumbh Mela on January 14, 2013 in Allahabad, India.Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesHindu pilgrims make their way over pontoon bridges near Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the Saraswati, during the Maha Kumbh Mela on February 9, 2013 in Allahabad, India.Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesHindu devotees look on as Naga Sadhus, naked Hindu holy men (unseen), walk in procession to bathe on the banks of Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the Saraswati, on the auspicious bathing day of Mauni Amavasya during the Maha Kumbh Mela on February 10, 2013 in Allahabad, India. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesPeople walk down a stretch of road in a neighbourhood ravaged by the previous year's tsunami on March 2, 2012 in Ishinomaki, Japan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesThe 330 metric ton (360 ton) Kyotokumaru, which was swept by the towering tsunami from the city's dock for about 750 meters (800 yards) into a residential district, during last year's tsunami sits on the ground on March 6, 2012 in Kesenumma, Japan.Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesPine trees, uprooted during last year's tsunami, lay strewn over the beach on March 7, 2012 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesSchool children show their emotions during the first graduation ceremony, since last years earthquake and tsunami which ravaged the town of Minamisanriku where the Shizukawa Junior High School is located on March 10, 2012 in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesA Pakistani boy internally displaced freom his home in the Swat valley swims in a canal at the Yar Hussain UNHCR camp in Chota Lahore on July 6, 2009 in Swabi district, Pakistan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesA girl internally displaced by Pakistan military operations in Lower Dir, sorts through her family's belongings on May 10, 2009 in Malakand, Pakistan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesChildren, internally displaced from the Pakistan Army's offensive against the Taliban in Swat and Buner, cool of as they play in a canal at the Yar Hussain UNHCR camp in Chota Lahore on May 18, 2009 in Swabi, Pakistan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesIndian labourers work at a coal mine on April 13, 2011 near the village of Latyrke near Lad Rymbai, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesShyam Rai, 22, from Nepal, makes his way through a rat hole tunnels inside of a coal mine 300 ft beneath the surface on April 13, 2011 near the village of Latyrke near Lad Rymbai, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesA transgender Hindu devotee dances as others play with color during Lathmaar Holi celebrations on March 21, 2013 in the village of Barsana, near Mathura, India. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesFlood victims scramble for food rations as they battle the downwash from a Pakistan Army helicopter during relief operations on September 13, 2010 in the village of Goza in Dadu district in Sindh province, Pakistan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesYoung girls, whose families were displaced by floods, sit on a bed as they take shelter on the higher ground of a bund on August 29, 2010 in Thatta, near Hyderabad in Sindh province, Pakistan.Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty imagesMueen Ibrahim, 10, peers around the back of his grandfather Ghulam Qadir, 52, displaced by floods, walk through flood waters on August 22, 2010 in the village of Baseera near Muzaffargarh in Punjab, Pakistan. Daniel Berehulak—Reportage by Getty images
