The award-winning photojournalist, Rick Findler, visited our Sixth Form last week to give a fascinating talk on his experiences in the field as part of our Horizons session. Rick has covered some of the most dangerous stories of the last 10 years, from the conflicts in Israel, Syria and Libya to the protests in Hong Kong.

His stories about getting ‘that picture’ showed his determination and courage to document the world and the stories of its people. He vividly described dodging ISIS bullets in Syria, sharing the image that he took of a youth as they were running across ‘sniper alley’. He also shared stories about some of his ‘near misses’ such as the time he and his reporter partner, Benji, narrowly missed being shot by Gaddafi forces and going for a swim in the local port hours before it was then bombed.

However, amongst all the conflict his work also shines a light on the people caught up in it, the ones trying to survive and continue with their lives. One such story involved a girl and her friends in Afghanistan who formed a passion for skiing. Despite the enforced restrictions and social norms in the country, these girls decided to compete in the Afghan Ski Challenge, a two-day ski event held each year in Bamyan Province. In spite of this positive move forward for the women of the country, following the recent events in the country many of these young women have been forced to flee their homeland and are now separated from their families in order to survive.

Rick’s honesty and clarity about world situations gave the students the opportunity to consider a wide range of political, social, ethical and moral issues, and allowed them to form their own opinions on global events.