10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Joe McNally

December 2, 2016

By Laura Brauer

1. When did it click for you that you wanted to do photography as a career?
When I took my first photo class in junior year of college. As soon as I had a camera in hand and saw a print come up in the developer, I was done.

2. What’s one thing few people know about you?
I went to five different grammar schools. We moved a lot. It’s good training to be a photographer.

3. What would you want your spirit animal to be?
An elephant. They seem so wise and patient—two things I am not.

4. Is there a photo of yours you wish you could retake?
Yes, too many to count. So many flaws in so many of my photos. I really feel the ones I totally missed. At least the ones I took a stab at give me something to chew on. This is a field where you get better and different all the time, so retaking something probably means doing it entirely differently.

5. What languages do you wish you spoke?
Spanish, Russian and Chinese.

6. What has been one of your greatest rebellions?
Probably just being a photographer. It was not the best idea, I think, to my mom.

7. If you could go back in time and shoot any era, what would it be and why?
I would go back to the ‘40s, ‘50s or ‘60s. Photographers had such amazing access. It was well before this field became filled with all manner of practitioners, and access, time and all of that got so restricted. Failing that, it would be great to have gone back to those ancient times of great conquests and discovery. There would be some amazing pictures to be taken back then.

8. What’s one of your proudest photography moments?
Over the years, a couple, just a couple of my pictures have made a difference in someone’s life, and they have thanked me for that. It’s very humbling when someone gives you a gift, which is to allow you to photograph them, and then they turn around and thank you for it. I should be thanking them! And, of course, I do. But on a few occasions, especially after the 9/11 project I shot, folks have offered thanks for the experience of being photographed, and have relayed that it somehow helped them. That’s quietly gratifying.

9. What piece of advice has resonated with you most?
From my father: “Hang out your own shingle.” And from Mel Scott, deputy picture editor at LIFE: “Joe, surprise me.”

10. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Wherever my wife Annie is.

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed photographer whose career has spanned nearly four decades. He was the last staff photographer in the history of LIFE magazine, and he has been honored numerous times by various publications and organizations, including PDN, American Photo, Communication Arts and The World Press Photo Foundation.