Photo By Cynthia McIntyre | Master Sgt. Michel Sauret, 200th Military Police Command public affairs officer, works...... read more read more
Although Master Sgt. Michel Sauret has won a string of the Army and DOD’s top photography and writing awards, he said his early work in photography was “appallingly bad.”
“Photography and storytelling is no different than most other jobs,” says the Pittsburgh, Penn. Public affairs specialist for the 200th Military Police Command, an Army Reserve component. “Talent comes only through hard work, perseverance and repetition.”
He credits other military photographers for igniting the creative spark, and getting his work critiqued (e.g. “torn apart”) even after he’d won awards.
“It was quite humbling,” said Sauret.
He also observed the judging at a Military Photographer of the Year competition for 2014 and said, “I saw what military photography could be, and it inspired me. I really wanted to be recognized among the top photographers in the DoD.”
Sauret joined the Army Reserve in 2002, and was sent to the Aberdeen Proving Ground as a tank mechanic. “I was too little and too inept to work on vehicles like that,” he said, describing his 120-pound frame trying to budge a 40-pound crowbar to remove a track link. “I was bouncing up and down on that thing without results.”
While in Iraq from 2008-2009, he worked in the public affairs office for the 10th Mountain Division. His stories included a feature about the Baghdad Zoo getting a tiger to replace the one killed during American bombing, partnerships with sheiks, Soldiers pulling security, and provincial reconstruction. He put the best articles in a portfolio and submitted them to the Army public affairs equivalent of the Best Warrior Competition – the Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware Communications Awards Competition. He won Army Journalist of the Year for 2008.
When he went full-time in the Army, his love for photography grew. “Being able to document stories through photography was an awakening experience. I loved it,” said Sauret.
He also wholeheartedly believes in inspiring others in the PA field by mentoring them, and reaching out when he sees good work being done.
“It’s rare to get that call that says, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job.’ It can motivate hungry Soldiers to keep digging in.”
Sauret’s own growth and mentoring reflects that. “Give to others as freely as you received it,” he said. He takes seriously his responsibility to pay it forward. (Read his website article “How to Suck Less at Photography” http://www.msauret.com/how-to-suck-less-at-photography-tips-from-an-army-photographer/)
Sauret also feels the burden of all good storytellers when they are invited into the lives of others, particularly those who have suffered tragedy. “We have the responsibility of carrying precious cargo, and we need to treat it with respect, and with the same value that people who went through it have.”
Looking at the images he creates, it’s easy to make that emotional connection he aims for, the one that says 'These are our warriors, and what they are doing is amazing, and worthy of our appreciation.'
Note: To see his images and read his stories, type his name in the DVIDS search box
SIDEBAR:
Tips for Public Affairs Professionals from Master Sgt. Michel Sauret:
*Whether crafting a story in words or images, what it comes down to is this: “Public affairs is about telling people what the Army does and why they should care.”
*Command messages work best when they are embedded throughout a story, and are subtle yet easy for the public to understand. “When you’re telling stories, you’re making command messages stronger. Messages such as brotherhood, unity, support, safety. Let the story tell itself. The messages will ring truer than any slide or document with bullet points.”
*“The best way to communicate a message is through story. It can connect both intellectually and emotionally. You have to make people care before they’re willing to learn. Any time you go out to tell a story, you have to come back and be able to answer for yourself, ‘So what?’ and ‘Who cares?’ If you can’t answer that, you don’t have a story.”
*“I’m a strategic communicator. We embrace the image the Army wants to portray to the public and we sacrifice long hours, sweat, and dust in our faces and all over our equipment to make sure we get the shots and the stories that deserve to be told.”
*“There’s absolutely no shortcut for hard work. It takes years of repetition, hours of staying late. What matters is that the Soldiers’ faces and their efforts wherever they train are being seen by the public. The fact that I work hard to make beautiful images means the Soldiers get to have their stories shared with the public.”
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2018 13:43 |
| Story ID: | 292434 |
| Location: | FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CA, US |
| Hometown: | PITTSBURGH, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 215 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sauret Soars in Telling Army Story, by Cynthia McIntyre, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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