'Extreme' Cameraman Awarded Guild Accolade

A cameraman has been honoured for his 'front line' work.
Jonathan Young, (pictured here in Afghanistan) an acclaimed documentary lighting cameraman, who is nominally 'based' in Sheffield - but who is more often away filming in the world's conflict zones - has been awarded the Extreme Camerawork award.
He was among three such cameramen to receive the accolade this week from the Guild of Television Cameramen. Jonathan's award was for shooting Return to Afghanistan, recognising his professionalism on the frontlines of Helmand province in Afghanistan with Ross Kemp.
Speaking exclusively to 4RFV, Jonathan said that the last 14 months have been some of the busiest and most exciting times.
"I was on constant patrol with the soldiers of 5 Scots filming everything that came our way.
"Ross and I were in the thick of daily contacts with the Taliban and on a good number of occasions, very, very close to the action," he said.
That was during last summer and then in September, October and November 2008, the cameraman moved onto the BBC 2 Explore series.
"This was acclaimed for the cinematography, when I filmed on location across the Rift Valley in Africa, Argentina and the Philippines with presenter Simon Reeve. The Argentina programme has also been put forward to the RTS Design and Craft awards by the BBC," he explained.
December then saw trips to USA and Hawaii for a quick turnaround 'bio pic' about the then President Elect Obama for BBC 2.
January 2009 saw a return to the Philippines for the Explore series and February brought a very challenging trip for the new BBC series Tropic of Cancer with presenter Simon Reeve.
"Five weeks crossing the Sahara desert following the Tropic line including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania and Morocco, all of which proved to be fascinating from a filmic point of view, from stunning dunes of Libya to the extreme beauty of the Algerian desert," said the cameraman.
This year he was also filming for the BBC's Panorama in Iran, working very very close to the incumbent President Ahmedinajad on a number of occasions.
"In August and September I was filming for BBC current affairs in the most dangerous cities in Mexico that have been ravaged by the feuding drug cartels in their war for control and access to the US border to supply drugs," he explained, before moving onwards back towards India through South East Asia for current work-in-progress on Tropic of Cancer.
(BMcC/KMcA)