Judge 2007

David Schonauer

PHOTO EDITOR, AMERICAN PHOTO

Timing isn't everything: "It's never a matter of just being in the right place at the right time—it's also an understanding of what to look for when you're there.”

If a picture is indeed worth its proverbial thousand words, then David Schonaeur is the man who gives them their due. A longstanding staffer at American Photo magazine—he was hired as managing editor in 1990 and is now the editor-in-chief—Schonaeur has been penning articles on photography's highest echelon for some 16 years. And from the straightforward to the esoteric, the photography community never fails to provide him with the vast and ever-changing array of personalities he loves to illuminate. "I'm a writer, and I like to tell stories,” he says, simply. "Photographers tend to be really interesting people, and make really good interviews; whenever they have to go out and do [an assignment], they have to be in front of it—you can't do it from a distance. They have really great adventures.”

Adventure has been a keyword in Schonaeur's career; he was formerly the managing editor of Outside magazine, and his experiences there with photographers such as Gordon Wiltsie, Galen Rowell, James Balog, and Rick Ridgeway heightened his interest in covering the people behind the pictures. Since that time, he has counted preeminent figures such as LIFE magazine photographer Carl Mydans (who produced the famous shot of Gen. Douglas McArthur coming ashore in the Philippines during the 1945 Japanese invasion) as sources of continuing inspiration. (Mydans passed away in 2004.) "[Mydans] was one of the first people I interviewed at American Photographer [now American Photo],” Schonauer remembers. The two were discussing Mydans' experiences as a a photojournalist during WWII when, says Schonauer, "It struck me that I was listening to a first-person history of much of the 20th century. He had just an incredible life.”

If you don't know, ask:

Though Schonauer does not shoot photos himself, he possesses an eternal curiosity about the art and the science—and he isn't afraid to call on his colleagues for a bit of instruction. "I'm a terrible photographer,” he laughs. "When I have to write something technical about photography—F-stops, lenses, etc.—I'm pestering the guy next door about it.”