Sebastian Rich: Photographer & Cameraman

4th October 2011

Please Upgrade Your Flash Player

Sebastian Rich has been a photographer / cameraman in hard news, documentary and current affairs for over thirty years.

He joined Independent Television News (UK) in 1980 and developed a gift for being in the right place at the right time on some of the world's biggest breaking news stories; he gained a reputation not just as an uncompromising cameraman in the theatre of war but also as an insightful and highly talented photographer.

Jon Snow the highly regarded British television journalist, describes Sebastian in the forward of his first book 'People I Have Shot' as ("Probably the finest news cameraman and photographer of his time… his camera work is amongst the most sensitive I have ever witnessed" Jon Snow, Channel 4 News)

Sebastian was honored with the prestigious Royal Television Society's Cameraman of the Year award for his dramatic pictures of war and famine throughout Africa. Over the years he has been the personal cameraman to some of British television's most highly respected journalists - Martin Bell, Jon Snow, Kate Adie, Sandy Gall, Trevor McDonald, and many American Network anchor.

During his career Sebastian has filmed and photographed every major war and conflict: El Salvador, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, The Gulf, Bosnia, Palestine, Iraq. He has been wounded several times, kidnapped and held hostage while on assignment in Beirut. One of the characteristics of Sebastian's work is the poignant images of young children that he portrays most vividly in his footage and photographs.

He left ITN in 1993 to pursue a freelance career as a photographer /cameraman, dividing his time between international television networks, independent film productions and print media. Sebastian is a favoured cameraman/ photographer with the French NGO Medicins Sans Frontiers, Save the Children, World Wildlife Foundation and United Nations Agencies, predominantly UNICEF.

During the war in Iraq Sebastian was 'embedded' with the 2nd Battalion 8th Marines (USMC) a.k.a. 'America's Battalion" for the entire duration of hostilities. Sebastian is still documenting for numerous clients the subsequent ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sebastian has just completed his second book 'Where Fools Rush In '.

London Photographic Association Still's Portfolios.