Interview with photographer Ed Kashi about his new book, “A Period in Time”
Ed Kashi is an American photojournalist who has been covering important world events for over forty years and has published multiple books of his photography. His most recent book is A Period in Time: Looking Back While Moving Forward, 1977-2022 (University of Texas Press, 2025). He kindly granted us an interview about that book and about photography, in general.
How would you explain the subject of your new book, A Period in Time, to someone who had never heard of it?
My new book is the first retrospective, the first of my career, that spans the first 45 years of my work. As a photojournalist and documentarian, the book is organized in chronological order starting from my university and early days as a photographer, up to 2022, and includes both selective edits of my major photo essays and long-term projects, with journal entries to my wife sprinkled throughout, to give the addition personal element.
You’ve taken so many photographs in your life, what was the selection process for inclusion in this book?
As I worked in solitude on this book last year, having been given the brief by the publisher, University of Texas Press, to tell the story of my life and work, I decided to be quite linear, chronological, and intentional with the edits. I wanted to highlight what I consider my most important images, but moreover the most significant personal long-term projects, major National Geographic stories and other assorted works that would inform a reader as to my journey living a photographic life of visual storytelling. Additionally, I decided to intersperse personal journal entries to my wife from the field to give it a more personal and psychological touch.
What do you think are some of the most important world events between 1977 and 2022?
The most significant world events of this period, which I covered only a handful of were:
1978–79: Iranian Revolution – Overthrow of the Shah, rise of the Islamic Republic.
1979: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan – Sparked a decade-long conflict with global implications.
1978: Camp David Accords – Peace framework between Egypt and Israel.
1986: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster – Major environmental and political fallout.
1989: Tiananmen Square protests – Pro-democracy movement in China violently suppressed.
1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall – Symbolic end of the Cold War.
1991: Dissolution of the Soviet Union – End of the Cold War, emergence of 15 new nations.
1991: Gulf War – US-led coalition expels Iraq from Kuwait.
1994: End of Apartheid & Mandela elected in South Africa
1994: Rwandan Genocide
2001: September 11 attacks – Leads to War on Terror, invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
2003: US invasion of Iraq
2007–2008: Global Financial Crisis
2008: Barack Obama elected president (first Black U.S. president)
2010–2012: Arab Spring – Uprisings across the Middle East/North Africa.
2011: Death of Osama bin Laden
2014: Rise of ISIS & Syrian Civil War escalation
2014: Russia annexes Crimea
2015: Paris Climate Agreement
2016: Brexit referendum
2016: Election of Donald Trump
2020–2022: COVID-19 pandemic – Global health, economic, and social disruption.
2020: Black Lives Matter global protests
2021: U.S. Capitol attack (Jan 6)
2022: Russia invades Ukraine (full-scale war)
What is the effect you hope this book will have on readers?
I believe this book can have multiple impacts. For those who love photography and might also be interested in the life and work of a modern-day photojournalist, this book would be invaluable. For anyone interested in learning more about some of the social and geopolitical themes of this period of history, this book will provide intimate visual material to illuminate them, and for those who are curious about the world, there is a richness to be learned about both the life of a photojournalist and our world.
Was this a book you had been wanting to write for a while, or was there something about “this book, right now?”
I donated my archives to the Briscoe Center for American Studies at University of Texas at Austin in 2024 and they offered to publish this book, which is how this came about.
How do photographs help us understand the past in a way that other mediums do not?
Photographs act on multiple levels; they present visual/forensic evidence of people, places, things, events, rooted in specific time and place. They offer interpretation and context to history and contemporary themes and issues. They can be imbibed as purely visual art and storytelling. There are unique qualities that still photography has apart from all other mediums of communication. A photograph forces us to stop, look, think, analyze and gain information. They can almost be meditative. And with photojournalism, where the caption and any supporting text are critical elements of the medium, you can gain further information and understanding.
Who are some of your favorite photographers? Are there any photographers who should be famous, but aren’t?
There are way too many photographers that have and will go unrecognized and I’m not in the business of naming names as it would be overwhelming and it’s also way too subjective. But among the photographers of the past and present who have impacted me, here is a brief and incomplete list: Andres Kertesz, Henri Cartier Bresson, W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, Charles Moore, Eugene Richards, Sebastiao Salgado, James Nachtway, Don McCullin, Mary Ellen Mark, Imogene Cunningham…and so many more!
How did you become interested in photography? And then, how did you get good at it?
I fell in love with photography when I was a freshman at Syracuse University in upstate New York. I wanted to be a writer but realized I wasn’t a great writer and in a moment of panic I decided to check out photography. The rest is history. I improved by working diligently almost every day from my late teens until today. It’s an ongoing process of constant learning, experimenting, and committing to the craft and the profession of visual storytelling. My breakthrough project was on the Protestant community of Northern Ireland, where I began to make the images I always dreamed of.
Has taking so many pictures of other people made you see yourself differently? Or has it changed your behavior in some way? (Did it remind you to have good posture or anything more serious?)
I have learned almost all I know about how to live better, how to be a better human being, what not to do, both for my own wellbeing and how to be towards others, how to care for my children and even how to be a better mate…all from being a photographer. I have spent my life keenly observing other people, from many different religions, nationalities, races, ethnicities, so I have also been gifted with a broad, relational understanding of humans and human behavior, cultural mores and so much more. And my good posture is from years of yoga, exercising and physical therapy! :)
How did you decide on the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin for your archive?
I had approached them about my last book and when they told me they only worked with people who they collected, I asked the director, Don Carleton, if they would like to collect my work. To my pleasant surprise, he said he’d be honored and the rest is history!
What is the role of archives? What do you hope will be the effect of your archive?
Archives are a living, breathing organism, even after additions have been completed, which in my case is thankfully far from over. An archive is like a garden, that needs tending, weeding, harvesting, and something you care for over a very long period of time. The hope for my archive is that it will both in the short term and long term serve as a source for education, research, media usage, and for certain subjects like my work on the Kurds, Aging, Northern Ireland, Nigeria and Oil, the Middle East, Chronic Kidney Disease, and more, those projects will provide deeper insights.
50 years ago, photography was already pretty democratized, but not everyone was taking pictures of things all the time the way they do now with their phones. I know some people think cellphones have kind of ruined photography because they’ve cheapened it in some ways and there are now so many pictures. On the other hand, many aren’t very good. Do you think cellphone photography has also helped people better appreciate good photography?
I would correct you and say it’s only in the past 10-15 years that photography has started to become democratized, as some women would argue we still have a long way to go, specifically in photojournalism. But to answer the main question here, phone photography has definitely made photography the lingua franca of the world and advanced citizen journalism, for better and worse, but it’s also highlighted the difference between amateur and professional photographers. Not just in quality of images, but when it comes to reporting and visual journalism, we professionals bring the ethics, rigors and precision that only experienced practitioners can bring, which enables viewers to trust our work. As far as how phones have impacted the appreciation of photography in general, it’s been a net positive.
What advice would you give an aspiring photographer?
Work hard to develop a unique body of work, whether it be a personal subject, creative expression or journalistic/documentary project. Take the time to create a unified set of images. Focus on what you care about and think others would also respond to. And if you want to do photojournalism, learn to capture audio and shoot video.
What advice would you give someone living through a historic, or even just personally meaningful moment, who wanted to document that through photography?
Start making pictures! And keep on going. Find a mentor or someone who you trust to get feedback. And don’t stop until you’ve exhausted yourself. If you’re living through a historic event or moment, find an editor or mentor in the field who can give you sound advice.
Photo credit: Tomas van Houtryve
