David Degner

Robert Leverett measures a tall tree, by boston photographer, David Degner.

The Old Man & The Tree

Just outside of Boston, I photographed the last stands of old-growth forest in New England, home to many of the tallest trees in the North East. Published in Smithsonian Magazine.

Photojournalism by the Boston photographer, David Degner. An infrared photograph of military police in Boston, Massachusetts.

Show of Force

Infrared was originally developed to reveal the presence of military positions in conflict zones. In this ongoing series, I use infrared film to highlight the growing militarization of American civic life.

Photographer, David Degner's, first project abroad in Xinjiang China.

Xinjiang Before the Camps

In recent years, the world learned of China’s vast system of Uighur control and detention in Xinjiang. In 2008, I spent a year documenting life in Xinjiang as these policies were only in their infancy.

Modern Miracles

Over the course of five years, I set out to photograph the spaces where the spiritual meets the tactile world. Published by National Geographic and the subject of two solo exhibitions.

Photographs from both sides of the Syrian revolution. Photojournalism by the Boston based editorial photographer, David Degner.

Syria From Both Sides

During the Syrian revolution, only a handful of photojournalists received visas to report from the government-held territory. On several trips, I photographed the front lines of both the government and rebel sides.

Pigeon portraits, photos made in pigeon coops around Cairo, Egypt.

Fancy Pigeons

In American cities, pigeons are rats with wings. In Cairo, they are an art form.

As a photographer,

I tell people’s stories truthfully, with curiosity and respect. I lived in North Africa and the Middle East for almost ten years, photographing culture, politics, and war for global magazines and newspapers. In 2020, I moved to Boston to document this dynamic moment in the US.

I also enjoy photographing for publications, companies, and other institutions to tell their stories. Most of my commercial photography is around New England, but I have been commissioned for projects worldwide.

I use a broad set of skills in my photography, including drone photography, video production, portraiture, and infrared photography. However, the most critical skills are still the journalistic basics of getting closer, listening carefully, and witnessing.

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A photo of Ahmed Abdelfatah, lays on the simple lunch of bread and spices that his mother ate, he was sentenced with the 683 in the governorate of MINYA, EGYPT on May 26.
Radia Radwan Youssef Atta, 36, the wife of Ayman Mohamed Mehdi Eissa, 38 disappeared on the road from his rural Beni Suef to his job in a photocopy shop at Cairo University Beni Suef.
Family members of the defendants who were sentenced to death in a mass trial of 500+ in Minya, Egypt on March 27.

In Egypt, many stories would discuss how X number of people died at sea, disappeared into prisons, were burnt alive in police custody, etc. While covering these stories, I would sit with the families, and they would show me the portraits of their loved ones. This is my small memorial to those victims. Click on their photos to read their stories.