Author: Dave Banks

Dave Banks— 40 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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One of my favorite artist and photographer is Alex Prager. A Los Angeles native, Alex is a self-taught artist who was greatly inspired by the Kodachrome images of photographer William Eggleston and the black and white world of street photographers Bruce Gilden and Weegee. With these influences, Alex has created a world of cinematic fiction in, Faces in the Crowd. The images of people assembled in congested public spaces. Yet, we can see the private thoughts of judgements, fear and desires in her images.
Thank you Alex, I now try to find that split second moment in my street photography where humanity gather. (Results below)Streets of Rome and Naples (7 of 17)TextingItaly

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Larry and Doug
After having lunch across the street, Larry and Doug get back to business in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre proselytizing to tourist in Hollywood. I asked Larry, If a woman with large breasts works at Hooters, then where does a woman with one leg work IHOP? Larry refused to acknowledge my question and raised his bullhorn and bellowed out his message. No tourist asked to have their photo taken with Larry and Doug.

B&W Life

A Canadian tourist recounts his experience on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “The costumed characters are a step below the homeless population in the area. The homeless may be asking for money and wallowing in their own stank but at least they are not confrontational and demanding like the costumed characters in the area. Don’t dare take a photo of a character without remitting payment.They will chase you down.I watched Elmo get crazy backed up by the Cookie Monster. Superman just stood there …doing nothing. It was sad.” On the night of the 83rd Academy Awards, 82,000 people will be sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles.

Buddy can you spare a dime?-2On a Sunday afternoon Chris takes a break from panhandling and the heat of the day. His favorite spot for  shade is at the front entrance of the Capitol Records building where the marble stays cool all day. “The popular belief is that it was designed to resemble a stack of vinyl records topped by a record player’s spindle” Chris tells me. His attention turns to a tourist walking by,  “hey buddy! Can you spare some changes ? I like you shoes they match your outfit, nice legs too.”

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New Day

Did you hear that? Sounds like the rush of wind dividing the branches of a tree.
Nope, that’s not it.
What is that sound ?
I’ve heard it coming for some time now. It started as a calm vibration traveling in the distance like a train, then wham! A forcible impact of realization that … Holy crap! it’s the sound of change.

Their have been two facets to my career, both dear to me in different ways. The Tonight Show was as warm and welcoming as my own family, but when I’m on assignment, into unchartered territories, I actually notice the blood pumping through my veins. My senses heighten and I feel more alive than ever, yet conversely, I risk death significantly more than when I’m shooting celebrities in a Hollywood studio.

Life is ever changing, all aboard for a new day.

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And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
‘Cause he’s better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father’s loot,
When Pater passes on.

‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively – The Kinks

According to the Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center, an estimated 254,000 men, women and children experience homelessness in Los Angeles County during some part of the year and approximately 82,000 people are homeless on any given night. Unaccompanied youth, especially in the Hollywood area, are estimated to make up from 4,800 to 10,000 of these.

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UPDATE : June, 17, 2012,  Rodney King, the man who was at the center of the infamous Los Angeles riots, was found dead this morning He was 47. According to media reports, King’s fiancée, Cynthia Kelly, found him dead at the bottom of a swimming pool. King recently marked the twentieth anniversary of the Los Angeles riots – the mayhem that took place after four police officers were acquitted of beating King in 1991. The beating, which was caught on camera, sparked national outrage and put King at the center of heated debate about the state of race relations in America. Mr. King, whose life was a roller coaster of drug and alcohol abuse, multiple arrests and unwanted celebrity, pleaded for calm during the 1992 riots. More than 55 people were killed and 600 buildings destroyed in the violence.

This is my video journal of the first night the L.A. Riots.

On April 29, 1992, twelve jurors in Simi Valley, California rendered their verdicts in a controversial case involving the 1991 beating of Rodney King by four LAPD officers. The case had received heavy media coverage dating from before it even went to trial, when a video of the beating hit the national airwaves. It came as a surprise then, as the verdicts were read: One of the officers was found guilty of excessive force; the other officers were cleared of all charges. The verdicts were broadcast live, and word spread quickly throughout Los Angeles. At various points throughout the city that afternoon, people began rioting. For the next three days the violence and mayhem continued. Mayor Tom Bradley imposed a curfew, schools and businesses were closed. Governor Pete Wilson dispatched 4,000 National Guard troops to patrol the streets. People stayed home, watching on TV with the rest of the country as live TV coverage showed fires raging throughout the city, innocent bystanders being assaulted and looters sacking businesses.

I was freelancing for several news organization and picked up an assignment for CBS News that evening. I was to cover Spike Lee speaking to the students at the University of California, Irvine. The drive is about 45 miles from L.A. After it was announced that Mr. Lee was unable to attend I made my way back to L.A. on the 405 freeway. I listened to KFWB all news radio for leads and followed police helicopters to cover the riots.

 


On Monday, May 4, schools and businesses reopened and life returned to some semblance of normality. The toll from the worst civil unrest LA had experienced since 1965 was devastating: more than 50 killed, over 4 thousand injured, 12,000 people arrested, and $1 billion in property damage.

 

 

 

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I have a wish. I wish I had the guts to wear salmon color trousers like my Italian cousins or like the musicians I photograph. I have been told by a love one ” When in Rome does as the Romans”. Unfortunately, I live in Los Angeles which is fashionable, but, only with Botox and breast augmentation. L.A. doesn’t have a little Italy but it does have plenty golf courses where old white men can wear kooky plaid or checkered pants, but, I don’t play golf.
By the way, where did that Roman quote come from ? Thanks to Google I found the story behind the quote – It seems that St. Augustine arrived in Milan, he observed that the Church did not fast on Saturday as did the Church at Rome. He consulted St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, who replied: “When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the Church where you are.” The comment was changed to “When they are at Rome, they do there as they see done” by Robert Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy. Eventually it became “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Well, on my next trip to Rome I will be taking my salmon color trousers with me until then I’ll just wear them around the house. Ciao!

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Image

The remains of the Temple of Apollo (or Zeus for others). This majestic ruins dates back to the second century AD on lake Avernus which is a volcanic crater lake born some 4,000 years ago. The Temple is located in the Campania region of southern Italy, northwest of Pozzuoli.
If you stand perfectly still in front of the temple you can hear swords clashing and sandals crunching on gravel from a Steve Reeves Hercules movie.

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Celebrating Easter Sunday with brimming banquet tables of smoked salmon, soft-shell crab, almondine and rock Cornish game hen. Charging across manicured lawns to gather as many of the colorful plastic eggs as possible while holding on to their easter Peeps and chocolate bunnies. It is a day for their sunday’s best as family celebrate the resurrection.
It is estimated that 254,000 men, women and children experience homelessness in Los Angeles County during some part of the year and approximately 82,000 people are homeless on any given night. Unaccompanied youth, especially in the Hollywood area, are estimated to make up from 4,800 to 10,000 of these. This is life in the City of Angels.