Page 79 - All About History - Issue 54-17

Interview

hen you think of a historian, What’s the value of historical photos his team misuse history every single day. These
it’s hard not to imagine an like these — are they actually of use people have no sense of the importance of what
old man in a tweed jacket to historians? has happened in the past. What happens in the
locked away in his ivory Well, obviously I think they will have a huge past defines and decides what’s going on today
W tower surrounded by piles value to future historians to find out what these and what’s going to happen in the future. There’s
of mouldy books. However, Dan Snow is the exact places look like. You’re creating a historical record a reason Google and Facebook were invented
opposite of this. Not content with just making every time you take a photo of one of these in California and not in Kazakhstan, and that’s
television programmes on topics as diverse as places, but also I think it’s about inspiring people because of the history of those places. That’s why
ancient China and the Klondike gold rush, he’s to understand that these beautiful places are our the world is the shape that it is. That’s why you
obsessed with the latest tech and is the world’s heritage. We should preserve them and cherish can’t walk into a pub in Crossmaglen in Armagh
most followed historian on social media. So far them as they are good for us, our mental state, [in Northern Ireland] and sing God Save The Queen.
his online empire includes 3 million views on his they’re good for our understanding of ourselves It’s why people are seeking to kill those of other
YouTube channel, 186,000 Twitter followers and and they are also great for attracting tourists and religions on the street. It’s why there is a war in
72,000 fans on Facebook. Snow also produces a business, so they work on every level. Syria. Without understanding history, we can’t
popular podcast, History Hit, which consistently understand anything at all.
ranks highly in Apple’s iTunes charts. In fact, Dan Are you a keen photographer yourself?
Snow is in the process of taking History Hit to the I think one of the reasons they asked me to take “ I want people
next level. He is crowdfunding HistoryHit.TV, a part is that they know I’m a fanatical Instagrammer.
global video-on-demand service like Netflix, but Also, when you’re making TV shows, we spend a to think
dedicated to world history. huge amount of time thinking about the visuals about the
However, his next project is to judge the Historic and how to capture them at their best.
Photographer of the Year, which is offering a world around
£2,500 cash price for the most astonishing imagery Beyond your TV shows, you have a
of those places which dominate our past. The huge online presence and now you’re them from
competiton is open to everyone — all you have to judging this competition. What are
do is upload one or more photos to photographer. you trying to achieve? a historical
triphistoric.com. A short list of contenders will I’m trying to get people to interact with history and
be announced in October and the winner will be I’m trying to do it by harnessing every single new point of view.
revealed in November. technology that’s come along in the last 20 years.
All About History is an official partner for the I want people to think about the world around They can
Historic Photographer of the Year, with our editor- them from a historical point of view. They can understand
in-chief James Hoare also helping to pick a winner. understand the politics around them, the buildings,
So we spoke with Dan about what sort of photos the cities, the landscape. If you’re in Syria, you can the politics
he is hoping to see, his digital obsession and how understand why you’re in a battlefield. If you’re in
futuristic tech can help us explore the past. Wiltshire, you get why you live in an ancient and around them,
seemingly timeless landscape. I’m just interested in
How did you become involved with popularising history as much as possible. the buildings,
the Historic Photographer of the Year?
I’m involved with TripHistoric, who are a great Why do you think history is important? the cities, the
organisation. When I go to a foreign city, they tell I’m a huge advocate for history. Just look at Trump landscape”
me the five best places to visit voted for by their in the White House at the moment, the way he and
users, which I find a really useful resource. We
decided to launch this competition together as a Dan Snow gets his hands dirty
way for people to go outside and explore history. in recent BBC documentary
Operation Gold Rush
As a judge, what sort of pictures are
you looking for?
I love a big historic landscape — Angkor Wat, the Taj
Mahal, the Terracotta Warriors, Chapsworth House,
the Alamo in Texas. But I think there are subtler
approaches, like photographing our museums or
even smaller archeological treasures. I also think
capturing the interaction of people in historical
places could be really interesting as well.
So it’s more about the history of the
location photographed rather than the
composition of the picture?
Personally, I think so. As a judge, I’m just excited to
see what comes in. [Editor’s note: Having checked
the rules, entries will be on originality, composition
and technical proficiency alongside the story
behind the image and its historical impact.]

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