Author: Dave Banks

Dave Banks— 30 years of network and cable television production, , international documentaries, news and reality program experience. Partial Client List: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Discovery Channel, Mark Burnett Productions, Warner Bros, History Channel, PBS, MPH Entertainment, Channel Nine Australia, BBC 1 & 2, NHK-Japan, German Television, Canal Television-France. Positions Held: Photojournalist, Producer, Director, Writer, Production Coordinator, Risk Management, and Technical Director. Served as a solo Photojournalist in Afghanistan for ABC’s "Profiles from the Front Lines.” Profiles Television produced the 13-hour documentary in association with Warner Bros. Later contracted with the Department of Defense in covering the war. 2001 - 2008 - Contracted by MPH Entertainment and Carl Sagan’s Cosmo Studios as a Senior Producer to take HDTV on location into the Sahara Desert and to the Barents Sea in the Artic Circle (Russia). 2006 to 2012 - Represented by Geo Cinema/Lewis Williams Agency. Toured as a guest speaker for college & university film lecturer series. 2014 - Book Release, “Cue the Camels” – Memoir of behind the scenes mishaps and misadventures of a documentary filmmaker in remote and hostile locations. Presently working on the second book, “Atlantis of the Sands “ and researching his third book, “Life in the City of Angels.” 2016 - Present - Contracted photojournalist. Between assignments I conduct my own photography workshops and documentary filmmaking in Los Angeles using DSLR cameras. Achievements: 13 Emmy Award nominations. Has won 3 Emmys, 2 International Monitor Awards and one ADDY Award for writing. Professional Organizations: International Cinematographers Guild Adventurers Club of Los Angeles Chapter Frontline Freelance Register Lightstalkers National Press Photographers Association Reporters Without Borders Rory Peck Trust Frontline Club Television Academy of Arts and Sciences (inactive)Volunteer Work: AA Hotline, Food Forward, Blessed Sacrament Homeless Shelter, NABET-CWA Union Employee Assistance Program for substance abuse intervention. Geographic Assignments: Afghanistan: Kabul, Kandahar, and Bagram. Australia: Sydney, Cairns, Mareeba, Atherton, Gordonvale, Undara, Chillagoe, Mt. Bartle Frere, and Queensland Outback. Egypt: Saqqare, Giza, Red Sea, The Nile River, Cairo, Valley of Kings, Hatshepsut, Abu Simbel, Armant, Aswan, Luxor, White Desert, Thebes, Safaga, Marsa al Alam, Karnak, Al Harrah and Baharia Oasis Fiji: Suva and Koro Island France: Paris, Le Mans, Nice, Cannes, Toulon, Marseille, Toulouse, Montpellier and Corsica Greece: Athens, Thessalonique and Island of Patmos. Israel: Jerusalem, Golan Heights, Ramallah, Bethany, Jericho, Temple Mount, Nazareth, Gethsemane, Kasr el Yahud, Allenby Bridge, Caphernaum, Sepphoris, West Wall Tunnels and Judea. Italy: Rome, Naples, Florence, Solerno and Island of Ischia. Jordan, Mount Nebo, Tell Mar Elias, Mukawer and Amman Citadel. Morocco: Quarzazate, Sahara Desert, Oued Amsailikh, Tagounite and Atlas Mountains. Mexico: Chihuahua, Sierra Madre Occidental and Barrancas Del Cobre New Zealand: North Island, South Island, Southern Alps, Mt. Cockayne, Lake Catherine, Lake Coleridge, Black Hill, Glenfalloch, Potts River. Mt. Peel, Forest Creek and Lake Tekapo. Russia: Moscow, Murmansk, Severmorsk and Barrents Sea Artic Circle. Scotland: Edinburgh, Inverness, Orkney Islands, St. Andrews Highlands. Turkey: Istanbul, Van, Doğubayazıt, Tabriz, and Erzurum. Additional information can be seen at: Blog: www.davebanksmedia.com Book: www.cuethecamels.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davebanksmedia/ Demo Reel: https://davebanks.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/daves-demo-reel/ On Camera Interview: http://youtu.be/oGjuTAvQRms

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Kabul, Afghanistan

My Afghan Polaroid

Wandering the back streets of Kabul I found myself on Passport lane where Afghan citizens go to have their photos taken for government ID’s. After watching the photographer at work with a couple of subjects, I fell in line to have my photo take as well. The process was slow, about 10 to 15 minutes to shoot, develop and print a photo for each customer. Which gave me the time to study and admire the work of this real street photographer. The Afghan box camera is a giant handmade wooden box known as the kamra-e-faoree, meaning “instant camera” – I call it the “Afghan Polaroid”. Working with only natural light the photographer uses a 35-millimeter camera lens attached to the front of the box and instead of clicking the shutter, the photographer removes the lens cap for a second and replaces it. Inside the box camera is an entire darkroom – paper, developer and fixer. After the latent image is exposed to a sheet of photographic paper, the photographer inserts his hand into the box through a cut-off pants leg designed to keep out light that would ruin the print.

He develops the image by moving the paper through two trays, one holding developer and the other fixer, to create a paper negative. He then makes another exposure, which converts the negative image into a positive print. It was truly impressive to watch how smooth and precise the photographer worked.

Having been briefly banned along with music and paper bags by the Taliban the kamra-e-faoree camera is in danger of disappearing again as digital cameras become more common place in Kabul.

Lukas Birk is well aware of the historical signifiants of the Afghan street photographers and their camera. Mr.Birk  has creating the Afghan Box Camera Project. For any photographer who appreciates the history of cameras and film this is a worth while cause. Link:http://www.afghanboxcamera.com/

I waited to see if the women was going to remove her burka for the photo, she never did.

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demo reel

Ever wonder who is filming the rock climber two thousand feet up, dangling from the granite walls of Yosemite? Ever consider how a cameraman got those claustrophobic shots deep inside the ancient tunnels beneath the pyramids of Egypt?  How about the intense handheld footage of the war in Afghanistan or the Los Angeles riots, and what kind of cockamamie person would voluntarily put himself into that chaos?

Surely you didn’t know that while shooting documentaries in exotic locations, a cameraman, or “shooter,” will have to brave blinding sandstorms, blistering heat of the day, bone marrow freezing nights, and even recognize the sharp crack of a gunshot followed by the screaming hiss of bullets passing by his head. Even worse, he’ll have to survive the projectile side effects of eating what some cultures call “delicacies” and what we would simply consider “repulsive.”

Dispatched all over the globe, I have embarked on the types of trips that only few travelers ever experience, and I’ve done this with hundreds of pounds of camera equipment. I’ve risked life and limb for the sole purpose of sharing the farthest reaches of the world with the audience back at home. I’ve covered expeditions, mountain climbs, archeological digs, adventure races, civil strife, and war. I’ve been shot at, lost in the Sahara Desert, and chased by a foreign army. I’ve strayed into a landmine field twice, and had a bounty on my head. Perhaps scariest of all, I’ve covered a story on fainting goats in Nebraska.  Sounds like fun, huh? For decades years, I have taken the risk to bring the world into your living room. One day working The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in a air-conditioned concrete bunker drinking free coffee and eating as many pastries as I could eat, the next in hostile locations in the Middle East, North Africa or Oceania. – only on occassion would Europe come in to play.

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We were not mentioned  in S. E. Hinton’s book The Outsiders. Hinton’s novel takes place in Tulsa Oklahoma in the mid-sixty’s which is a beautifully written anthropology of the class division between high school teenagers. The Socs (pronounced ˈsoʊʃɪz / so-shis, short form of Socials) were from middle income to upper income families on the south side of Tulsa. They drove new cars given to them by their daddy. Thier social uniform were wheat jeans, penny loafers, button down collar madrases shirts, and white socks. Their haircut was reminiscent to the moptops of the Beatles. On the other hand, the greasers were boys from lower-class blue collar families from north Tulsa. Most were shade tree mechanics driving old 50’s Chevrolets and Fords that were retrieved from auto salvage yards. Their uniform were Levi’s, hand me down jean jackets, tee-shirts, Converse All Stars, and most important Brylcreem for that Elvis pompadour look. 

In between the two tribe were the nameless kids who’s economic standing was somewhere between the families of Socs and the Greasers. We were  the nerds, the geeks and socially inept when it came to girls. It is true that one of the most important qualities that can help teens establish their own identities is the ability to “fit in.” Finding friends who understand their problems and relate to them is paramount for teenagers. It wasn’t long until we realized that what we had in common was our interest in doing cool stuff instead of campaigning for popularity at school or smoking in the back of the school. We created our own tribe and we called ourselves  “The GTO’s,  Order of the Pythons” .

 


From 1964 to 1968  we produced movies using our parents Bell and Howell movie cameras. At first, we filmed our friends acting goofy around the house and favorite hang outs -that was in the 8th grade.  By the 9th grade we were charging kids 50 cents to be in our movies and they didn’t just hang out at the parents’ house anymore.  Kids were being blown up, shot at and chased by the bad guys in War movies, Spy movies and even a Roman drama.  Growing up in Oklahoma the culture allowed hunting as a normal recreation which gave us access to shotguns, black powder and a great locations. The Verdigris River which is northeast of Tulsa was our favorite location and isolated from civilization and parental control.  All the tall guys had to be the bad guys (the Germans) the little guys were the good guys (the Americans). We bought army surplus and dyed the fatigues black and spray painted the helmets and wore them backwards so they would look like German helmets.  Once we had a old, gray ’59 Ford station wagon.  We painted a couple of swastikas on it, filled the back up with black powder and drove it down the river and blew it up.  We did this until we graduated from Will Rogers High School in 1968. Needless to say, we went our separate ways pursuing a life outside of Tulsa.

 In 2010 as a result of facebook this little band of brothers reestablished the brotherhood -but, not without loss. In May of 2008 Dean Bishop who crated the GTO’s and was our mastermind passed away from cancer – Dean was financially supported and cared for by fellow members Rex and Ricky Gray until his death. Dan Lundy the tallest member of the GTO’s passed away in the mid 90’s from cancer after being exposed to agent orange in Vietnam. The surviving members of the original six GTO’s including myself are: Rex Gray and brother Ricky Gray and Dan Battreall. 

I am eternally grateful to my band of brothers for not only giving me wonderful memories but laying the foundation for the career I enjoy today.

The GTO’s

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While researching material for Cue The Camels, I came across this old journal entry from a shoot I did in Egypt. Which was included in my book Cue the Camels.
Assorted images from my years in the Middle East

Northern Alliance, Afghanistan

Saqqara, Egypt
High Atlas Mountain Range, Morocco
Northern Alliance, Shibar, Afghanistan
Sahara Desert, Morocco
Sahara Desert
Bedouin Girl, outskirts of Jerusalem
Passport Lane, Kabul, Afghanistan
Mt. Ararat, Turkey

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John

In the late afternoon light as the heat of the day slowly dissipates and shadows begin to grow. John settles into a convenient position on a green metal bench leaving behind his anxiety at the intersection of La Cienega and 18th Street. It is here that John displays his soul to the rest of humanity as he drifts away from the aroma of exhaust and the pandemonium of metal, glass and tires. He has found his universal solution to serenity while holding the worn pages of his book. Sometime ago John changed the narrative of his life, shipping out on red Target shopping cart, sailing the West above the red painted curbs and redefining window shopping. Books have become John’s traveling companion, his shipmate, his amigo and his manual. Words on a paper that fills the emptiness of time and place on his long voyage home.