Seeks out chaos. Creates joy.
A war photographer who got frightened off.
And he's glad he did. The appetite for intensity stayed; the conflict didn't — so he pointed it somewhere with joy in it instead. Ewan Burns seeks out chaos and comes back with joy: pictures that drop you into the moment rather than watching from a safe distance. There's a reason they feel that way — he's usually in there too.
Freediving, BASE jumping, rope-solo climbing and skydiving aren't things he does between shoots; they're where he learned to stay calm when everything's moving, to read a moment a half-second before it happens, and to trust the people around him. Point him at an athlete at full tilt or a race rounding the final turn and he knows exactly where to be, because he's spent years being there himself.
FreedivingBASERope-soloSkydiving
He genuinely likes people, and it shows. Warm, curious and easy to be around, he puts subjects at ease in minutes — half the reason they actually look like they're enjoying themselves. The other half is instinct: kinetic images that treat the viewer as a participant, not a spectator.
He came up the long way — a BA in Photography from the Art Institute at Bournemouth, then London's advertising scene, learning from people who'd been at it for decades; Los Angeles two years later, sharpening his lighting beside top studio and automotive photographers. His first major commission, shooting skate phenom Ryan Sheckler for Jim DeBarros at MTV, set the tone for everything since.
Off the clock he travels to far-flung places with his wife, Deborah; together they've worked extensively with military non-profits supporting veterans. He holds his opinions lightly — he has a perspective, but he's not convinced any of us really know what we are — which, oddly, is what makes him so easy to collaborate with.
Commissioned by Reebok, Nike, ASICS, Under Armour, Google, Bank of America, GE Capital, UnitedHealthcare and The New York Times — among many others.
Life doesn't live itself.Definitely not Sun Tzu, but it works.
