Sure Travel Journey Vol 5.1 Summer 2019 | Page 12

DEPARTURE LOUNGE // SUMMER 2019
© DRUCKER
Travel
Photographers
You should follow: Tate Drucker
American
photojournalist
Tate Drucker has
travelled to more
than 70 countries
and shot for
publications
like National Geographic, Reuters, The
Guardian and The Washington Post. She
is now based primarily in East Africa, and
Sure Travel Journey tracked her down
on assignment in Gabon to ask her the
secret to a perfect travel shot – and
what sparked her initial passion for this
line of work.
SURE TRAVEL JOURNEY: How did
you get into travel photography?
TATE DRUCKER: I only really put travel
and photography together when I was
able to join a photography workshop in
Tanzania at age 15. It was my first time
12 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
somewhere radically different from where
I’m from, and capturing it with a camera
was addictive.
What things do you take into
consideration when composing or
trying to capture a good travel shot?
You can have the best lighting over a
landscape or the most majestic lion in
front of you, but it doesn’t matter if
there isn’t something that sets that exact
landscape or that lion apart from every
other lion or landscape photo we’ve
seen. The key, for me, is to take a photo
that hasn’t been taken before. When I’m
working, I’m always waiting and looking
for something to occur that creates a
moment of serendipity. Sometimes that
takes a lot of waiting and patience, but it
does eventually happen.
What’s been a favourite assignment
or place you’ve travelled?
Tanzania will always be special to me,
but Nepal is a favourite – from the
Himalayas to the rainforest, to the
culture and wildlife, the entire region is a
photographer’s dream.
What keeps you at it?
When I see my images going towards
the betterment of something. It could
be raising awareness about a wildlife or
conservation issue, inspiring someone to
travel themselves or to consider a place
in a way they never have before. I enjoy
taking pretty photographs, of course, but
the heart and soul of this for me is when I
see change actually happening.
Where would you love to travel next?
Mongolia, Antarctica and Papua New
Guinea. I’ve been fascinated with the
cultures of Mongolia and Papua New
Guinea for far too long, and Antarctica just
seems like an exceptionally beautiful and
foreboding place.
Essential gear you wouldn’t leave
home without?
My rain cover for my camera and
multitudes of spare camera batteries and
memory cards!
Above: Camel caravan in the Sahara Desert.
Follow Tate on her amazing journeys on
Instagram: @tatedrucker