A country engaging in brutal warfare. A populous rising up to start a revolution. A man putting his rabid dog to rest. These are just some of the many subjects of Justin Merriman’s photography.
Merriman has been a photojournalist for 25 years working primarily overseas. He has faced many dangers while trying to snap the best shot, but he didn’t always know this was going to be his life. He never even took a photography class in college and didn’t start his journey in the news until he joined his school paper his senior year.
“It was actually in college, towards the end of my time in college I decided to join the newspaper staff. They were looking for someone to be a photographer and I thought that sounds like fun. So, I just said I would be a photographer and from that point on I was just hooked” Merriman said.
Even with no experience or training whatsoever, this didn’t stop him from giving his all to learn the craft. He took time to learn some fundamentals in some unorthodox ways.
“I went to a park near my house and I had my best friend ride his bike up and down the road and that’s how I learned the different stops for shutter speed,” Merriman said.
After college, Merriman knew he wanted to be a photographer but without the experience or credentials, his pathway seemed uncertain. However, this did not stop him from pursuing his passion. He took a swing and began to reach out to news outlets in the hopes of getting a chance to prove that he had what it takes.
“I looked up the local newspaper and I started bugging the photo editor there. I started asking him ‘Can I string for you? Can I string for you?’ and he was very polite but knew I didn’t have a portfolio and wasn’t qualified for the job. I stayed persistent and kept calling and calling until finally he said ‘Listen, I’ll give you a shot’” Merriman said.
With his first and potentially only chance, Merriman took it in stride. He went out and bought a camera on a credit card, photographed a local basketball game, and took his work over the paper. His work must have been impressive because afterward, he got the opportunity to work as a stringer for the Greensburg Tribune-Review. Even with this win, it didn’t slow down his drive to improve. If anything, it only made him even more tenacious.
“I would chase spot news; I had a scanner. I would try to beat their staff photographers to spot news and I did that to the point of obsession” Merriman said.
After working for multiple local newspapers, Merriman got his chance to explore the world. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review offered him a job that sent him to India.
“My first assignment from the newspaper was to cover the 50th anniversary of the Polio Vaccine which was invented in Pittsburg. So, I traveled to India for several weeks then from that point on I covered most of the conflicts from 2004 until 2015-2016 when I left” Merriman said.
His time overseas would be a dream come true for him but it was also not what he expected. His trips were riddled with situations some can only imagine.
“There were kidnapping plots to kidnap and possibly kill me that I have survived. I’ve fled out of the country under the cover of darkness. I’ve evaded police trying to arrest me or do god knows what to me. I’ve stared down Taliban fighters in the eyes” Merriman said.
While this happened throughout his career, some countries offered more dangers than others. Merriman traveled to Ukraine for an assignment during the beginning of its conflict with Russia.
“Everything that is happening in Ukraine now began in 2014 when I was there. I took the last train out of Kyiv to Crimea. I was snuck into Crimea the night before it fell to Russia and had to avoid arrest and detainment there and all these other things to be able to go there and get work. I went to bed in Ukraine and woke up in Russia” Merriman said.
While his time in Ukraine and Russia was full of conflict, this was not the only country he ventured to that was dangerous. His time in Egypt was also filled with situations that threatened his life.
“In Egypt covering the unrest there, I faced all kinds of problems where I was beaten and tried to be run over and shot at and attacked and nearly arrested and all that stuff,” Merriman said.
He faced many challenges in his career that ranged from uncomfortable to downright life-threatening. However, he never let the dangers or his work get in the way of his morals.
“There are instances where I have put the camera down and helped people. There was a woman who went over a cliff and was hanging from a cliff and I climbed down and photographed her. The fireman repelled down next to me and asked how I got down there and they needed help so I put down the camera and helped pull her up” Merriman said.
After a long career full of local news, documentary work, and international photography, Merriman has taken a new path. He now works as a freelance photographer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This allows him to be close to his family and truly own his work and time. However, even though he has had a long career, there is still one aspect that he is struggling with.
“The hard part now for me is social media and what that has become because I am just not good at it. I spend my time on other things but it is so important to be relevant and active on social media to share the work you are doing and that has been a bit of a struggle for me” Merriman said.
Even with this struggle, he continues to produce photos and stories that no one else can and that is precisely the advice he gives to aspiring photographers. Merriman advises people to make the work their own, not produce what is always expected.
“I want to see how you see it, you know what I mean? The standard photo from a press conference, if I look at a picture and go ‘Anyone in that room could have made that picture’ that doesn’t do the same to me as if I go ‘There is no one in this room that could have made this picture other than Ethan. This is him seeing it.’ That’s what I want to see” Merriman said.
This is precisely how Merriman has made his portfolio. For a story about poverty, he chose to photograph a man who had to shoot his dog because he didn’t have the money to take it to the vet. He took a photo of a soldier kissing his newborn goodbye before leaving for a 6-month assignment. He photographs real people such as victims, children, or even soldiers during war to see how it affects real people. He finds the story in the story.
To see more of Merriman’s photos, click here.
