Gulf Oil Spill Photos: Interview with Documentary Photographer

Photography Tips

To commemorate the one year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion, filmmaker Mike Fritz teamed up with Associated Press photographer, Gerald Herbert, to produce a short telling of the impact the oil spill has made on the Gulf Coast. The slideshow offers viewers a collection of photographs taken by Herbert over the past year to capture the affects of the spill and the progress that has been made to restore the Gulf. Herbert also delivers the narration for the film, as he expands on what it was like to cover the tragedy and the progress being made. Herbert shoots primarily on his Canon 5D Mark II. Take a moment and enjoy:

Herbert was part of a reporting team that provided the only shots of the immediate aftermath of the explosion and he has spent the majority of his time ever since criss-crossing the region, meeting with family members who lost loved ones aboard the Deepwater Horizon and documenting the effects of the spill’s reach on the local wildlife and ecology.

“Looking back over the last year, it’s been an exhausting process,” Herbert says of the efforts put forth by both, himself, and residents of the impacted region.

The oil spill has been called one of the largest ecological disasters in North America. It’s responsible for 11 casualties of BP workers and threatening countless sea life and coastal habitats.

Interview with Gulf Oil Spill Photographer

Herbert does an excellent job of portraying the current state of the Gulf Coast through his photography as he explores the area by helicopter, boat, and on foot.