Overview: Laura Elizabeth Pohl is a humanitarian photographer and documentary filmmaker living in Cape Town, South Africa. Laura has traveled the world extensively, and spent many years living and working in developing countries, advocating for the dignity and humanity of the people she features in her visual storytelling. She has documented stories of HIV, ebola, migration, malnutrition and other deeply human subjects.
In this conversation, I learn how Laura’s journalism career started with interviewing celebrities — e.g. Britney Spears, Winton Marsalis, Mary J. Blige — and that she and I lived only an hour away from each other in South Korea when we experienced our generation’s biggest “where were you when” moment. I learn how Laura became a self-taught documentary filmmaker over the course of one weekend, and under deadline. I learn why she left behind a relatively stable job as a Dow Jones business reporter in Asia to start over as a photojournalist, and how she cobbled together paychecks to make the dream work along the way, including getting fired from a waitressing job after only two weeks.
These things and more in this episode of the Humanitou Podcast.
INTRO TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I’m Adam Williams, creator and host of Humanitou, a podcast that empowers connection through conversations of humanness and creativity.
Today, I’m talking with humanitarian photographer and filmmaker Laura Elizabeth Pohl. As you’ll hear, Laura has traveled the world extensively. She has spent many years living and working in developing countries, advocating for the dignity and humanity of the people she features in her visual storytelling. She has documented stories of HIV, ebola, migration, malnutrition and other deeply human subjects.
In this conversation, I learn quite a bit that I did not know about her, like how her journalism career started with interviewing celebrities — Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Winton Marsalis — and that she and I lived only an hour away from each other in South Korea when we experienced our generation’s biggest “where were you when” moment.
I learn how Laura became a self-taught documentary filmmaker over the course of one weekend, and under deadline. I learn why she left behind a relatively stable job as a Dow Jones business reporter in Asia to start over as a photojournalist, and how she cobbled together paychecks to make the dream work along the way, including getting fired from a waitressing job after only two weeks.
And there’s a lot more that we talk about, like some of the many powerful things Laura has learned in her work around the world, universally applicable things. There are a few tears. There’s laughter. And there’s a secret divulged.
This is an amazing 80-minute conversation, packed full. So let’s start it up.
Here’s my conversation with Laura Elizabeth Pohl.
Episode 90 Show Notes
Connect with Laura Elizabeth Pohl:
Website: laurapohl.com
A Long Separation: alongseparation.com
NGO Storytelling: ngostorytelling.com
Laura Pohl on Instagram
Connect with Adam Williams / Humanitou:
Instagram: @humanitou
Subscribe: Humanitou Newsletter
Photography Credit
Self-Portrait by Laura Elizabeth Pohl
Intro/Outro Music
“Tupac Lives” by John Bartmann | freemusicarchive.org
