Shoot for National Geographic

“Sometimes just getting there is the main part of my job as a photographer. For my initial National Geographic magazine story in January 2012, I spent 40 days on assignment, with 28 days dedicated to the journey itself. The objective was to walk up the frozen Wakhan River in Afghanistan, a winter trek to the high-altitude Little Pamir plateau, 14,000 feet, to document the challenging life of the Afghan Kyrgyz community. Although I was familiar with this region from over a decade of intermittent work, winter in the Afghan Pamir was uncharted territory for me. The last outsiders to navigate the frozen river did so in 1972... I was excited yet apprehensive, to say the least. Being a new father, with my son just having turned 11 months, brought added worries. What if the ice broke under my weight? Like most things scary in your mind, once you actually live through them, you understand them and they become your friends… These are images from my expedition days “commuting” to my first story for the magazine—extraordinary times spent on the edge of the story.”