Robert King (photojournalist)

Robert King
Born
Robert Whitfield King[1]

May 25, 1969
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Occupation(s)War correspondent
Photojournalist
filmmaker
Creative Director
art director
Websitehttp://www.fotoking.com

Robert King (born May 25, 1969) is an American independent photo and video journalist. He has covered conflict areas and war zones since 1991. King was the subject of the 2008 documentary Blood Trail, re-released in 2009 as Shooting Robert King.[1]

Early life

King was born in Memphis, the son of music promoter and record company executive John King.[1] His childhood was shaped by "a household of drug addiction and alcoholism," as well as dyslexia, which resulted in him repeating multiple grades in school.[2]

While a student at the Hyde School in Bath, Maine, he ran away to Boston and fell deeper into drug use. His grandmother encouraged him to return to the school and focus on his photography, which he did, graduating in 1989.[2] He then attended the Pratt Institute, where he got his first photo publication in the New York Times as a junior.[2]

Career

After graduation from the Pratt Institute, King became a war photojournalist in Iraq, with later work in Sarajevo, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Albania, Rwanda, and Syria.[3][2][4] His first newspaper cover photo was for The Guardian in 1993.[5] He was the only photojournalist on the ground during the fall of Grozny. His photographs were used for covers of Newsweek, Life, and Time.[2][3]

In 2008, a documentary covering his activities over the course of 15 years was released.[5] Blood Trail, later known as Shooting Robert King, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.[6][1]

In 2012, King became the director of photography for Vice Media.[7] His work at Vice is most closely associated with his coverage of software pioneer and fugitive John McAfee, which has been criticized as being too friendly and inadvertently aiding in McAfee's arrest in Guatemala, an allegation King denies.[8][9][10][11] In 2015, BuzzFeed News reporting placed the blame for McAfee's capture on Vice editor-in-chief, Jonathan Smith, and found that King had not been responsible.[12]

In 2014, King moved to Berlin, Germany and became the creative director of video for Bild.de[1]

As of June 2018, he operates a farm in Tennessee and was serving as McAfee's official documentarian prior to McAfee's death.[2][7] His work is extensively featured in the 2022 documentary Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Beifuss, Jonn (October 2, 2009) Shooting Robert King' captures harsh realism in blink of a lens, Go Memphis
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gauld, Malcolm (June 2018). "Rob King '89". We Are Hyde Alumni. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Fuchs, Cynthia (July 22, 2010). "'Shooting Robert King': The Rehab From Hell". PopMatters. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Barnard, Anne (June 13, 2012). "A Rare View of Conflict in Syria". The New York Times. New York City, United States. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Pulver, Andrew (August 20, 2009). "Shooting Robert King". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (September 14, 2008). "Blood Trail". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  7. ^ a b King, Robert. "Robert King". LinkedIn. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  8. ^ "We Are with John McAfee Right Now, Suckers". VICE. December 3, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Honan, Mat (December 6, 2012). "How Trusting in Vice Led to John McAfee's Downfall". Wired Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  10. ^ Wise, Jeff (December 9, 2012). "In Pursuit of McAfee, Media Are Part of Story". The New York Times. New York City, United States. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  11. ^ Greenfield, Rebecca (December 3, 2012). "Vice Accidentally Reveals John McAfee's Secret Whereabouts from on the Lam". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  12. ^ Bernstein, Joseph (February 14, 2015). "New Video Calls Vice Account of McAfee Geodata Leak Into Question". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.