The Real Deal: Field Notes from the Life of a Working Photographer

(Hardback)

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Photographer and best-selling author Joe McNally shares stories and lessons from a life in photography.

When Joe McNally moved to New York City in 1976, his first job was at the Daily News as a copyboy, the wretched dog of the newsroom. He was earning the lowest pay grade possible and living in a cheap hotel in Manhattan. Life was not glamorous. But with a fierce drive, an eye for a picture, and a willingness to take (almost) any assignment that came his way, Joe stepped out onto the always precarious tightrope of the freelance photographerand never looked back. Fast forward 40 years, and his work has included assignments and stories for National Geographic, Time, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, and more. He has traveled for assignments to nearly 70 countries and received dozens of awards for his photography.

In The Real Deal, Joe tells us how it all started, and candidly shares stories, lessons, and insights he has collected along the way. This is not a dedicated how-to book about where to put the light, though there is certainly instructional information to be gleaned here. This is also not a navel-gazing look back at the good old days, because those never really existed anyway. Instead, The Real Deal is simply a collection of candid field notessome short, some quite longgathered over time that, together, become an intimate look behind the scenes at a photographer who has pretty much seen and done it all.

Author Bio

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose prolific career includes assignments in 70 countries. McNally won the first Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Journalistic Impact for a LIFE coverage titled, The Panorama of War. McNally has been honored numerous times by Communication Arts, PDN, Graphis, American Photo, POY, and The World Press Photo Foundation. McNally is masterful at lighting and is known for his large-scale production work, in addition to his vast storytelling experience which stems from assignment work for legendary publications such as LIFE and National Geographic. His wide range of commercial and assignment work is regularly cited in social media surveys as sources of inspiration and industry leadership.