David Degner

Boston Photographer and Photojournalist

Photojournalism & Editorial Photography

This is a small portion of my editorial photography portfolio. It consists of daily assignments for newspapers and magazines, long-term photo projects, and visual musings.  Hopefully over time I will be able to post more from my photography archive.

Boston Bike Life

Boston #BikeLife

While researching Boston’s bike culture I noticed different worlds. There are loud proponents of biking for commuting, reducing pollution, focusing on safety, and restructuring the city around bike lanes. I also found a large community that rides bikes as a form of resistance, to belong, and instill meaning in everyday life.

They dismiss the labels that may be applied and say they are just living the bike life.

I found an Instagram post announcing a ride later that afternoon. So, on a cold Sunday, I took my classic road bike and went to the meeting point in Jamaica Plain.

There were about a hundred young people with bikes chatting in groups with several popping wheelies in the street. Parents with a compressor in the back of their truck were pumping up tires and handing out snacks. I talked with groups that came from around Boston, even out in the suburbs. Many arrived by riding the train with their bikes, a few were on the city’s rentable Bluebike.

“A couple of them are a little bit lost, but when it comes to Bikelife, they’re found,” says Julian “Roaming” Rivera, describing the international movement of underground riding groups. “In Bikelife, if you know how to ride it doesn’t matter how you look, there’s no discrimination or prejudice.”

The leader of the ride called everyone together, announced that this ride was in memory of their friend Julio, and they were off.

Almost instantly, everyone was on their bike and crossing the street, following the leaders. Two men on scooters blocked the traffic and herded the bicycles on their way.

I spent a little too much time getting my bike ready and had to play catchup, searching for the group on side roads and eventually coming across a few stragglers. By the time I met the main group we were riding up a hill to a small cemetery.

Those who knew him gathered around the grave of Julio, while the rest laid their bikes down and waited off to the side.

After a few words, the crews slipped out of the cemetery and down the hill heading into Boston. We were moving quickly, but the riders were often pulling stunts, holding wheelies, dancing across their bike seats, and riding backward.

We cut through residential Roslindale and Roxbury into Back Bay and the heart of the Financial District. It was getting dark and cold, as we passed transit stations some of the crews went home, eventually, the ride dissipated and I accidentally started following a group of commuters.

Many of the bikers get out as often as they can, some say every day, meeting up around Boston and New England. Some get sponsorships from bike manufacturers and brands, but most just ride for fun, taking advantage of these temporary, moving liminal spaces to enjoy their community and express themselves.

If you want to follow them on Instagram there is an active community


Hurricane Henri hits Rhode Island

Sharon Reardon lights a second lantern for super as Julie Stravato looks on. Power was cut to much of Jamestown around 10:45 in the morning and did not return until the evening so the neighborhood shared supplies. One neighbor had a generator, one had a solar water heater, and the Reardon’s provided buckets of water from their pool for flushing. (Photo by David Degner/The Washington Post)

Hurricane Henri to Tropical Storm Henri

As Hurricane Henri approached New England the Washington Post put me on to cover it’s landfall. We had one photographer embedding with the Coast Guard on Cape Cod and another on Long Island.

Christine and James Wood watch the weather news as waves buffet Easton’s beach outside their window on August 22, 2021 in Newport, Rhode Island.

I was assigned to show the storms effects on Southern New England. So I based myself in Newport, Rhode Island with the writer Julianne McShane.

People watch the waves come in at Easton’s Beach in the early morning in Newport, Rhode Island. Rain and wind from the Henri started hitting Newport in the early morning but were strongest in the middle of the day.
A boat is harbored in Goose Neck Cove in Newport, Rhode Island.
Bernice Kubicek, and Matt Finley, of Iowa, watch the waves at Easton’s Beach.
A member of the American Red Cross watches the storm at an evacuation center set up in J.H. Gaudet Middle School.
Many limbs and leaves were brought down by the winds from Henri on August 22, 2021 in Newport, Rhode Island.
At least 8 boats broke from their moorings and ran ashore on in Jamestown, Rhode Island.
François Elmaleh and his son Alerren Elmaleh surf in the shallows of Easton’s Beach on August 22, 2021 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Portrait of Larry Summers

Portraits for a story about Lawrence H. Summers in the New York Times.

Larry Summers has split his pandemic time between houses in Massachusetts and Arizona. He also seems to live inside the collective mind of the Washington economic establishment.

When the 66-year-old veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations talks, Washington’s policy apparatus — journalists and think-tank types, economists and communications people, administration researchers and Capitol Hill staff — stops to listen. It disputes, debates and ultimately disseminates his ideas. Sometimes, it does so almost in spite of itself. Deploring the way he dominates the narrative is its own catalyst to his dominance, though his critics often miss the paradox.

– Jeanna Smialek

Extreme Lifestyle Photography

Adventure photography on the trail to Mount Everest. Photographing avid adventurer Kenton Cool, one of the world’s leading high-altitude climbers.

Adventure Photography & Lifestyle Photography

Adventure photography and Lifestyle photography are rarely easy, and they are especially hard to do well. Getting the most striking photographs of athletes and explorers first requires the photographer to keep up with them. The best light and most expressive vistas are usually found by waking up before sunrise and moving through the heat of the day.

Somehow in that haze of physical and mental exhaustion I focus to make a creative photograph. I love it.

My favorite part of fitness photography is forming that perfect photo in a very dynamic situation. Often it requires a mental flow of recognizing the light or compositional elements that are available. It harkens back to my first love, street photography, but with a lot more preparation and pressure.

Below I have cobbled together a portfolio of both adventure photography and fitness photography that I helped create around the world. Usually I am working beside a video production crew with only a few minutes in between takes. Sometimes the results can be magical.

Hiking to Mount Everest

Sometimes adventure photography includes the cultures around the physical challenge.
Taking adventure photographs using the early morning sunrise.
A map can help find the best places for adventure to photograph.
Kenton Cool, avid high altitude climber.

This trek to Everest Base Camp was possible with extensive planning and careful coordination. It was even harder as the whole crew had to quarantine and stay Covid free. Thanks to the producers, sherpas, crew, and talent it succeeded even after several things went wrong.

My extensive planning included, how to make a photo studio small, light, and powerful. Because I had to carry it in my backpack and use it in midday sun. Carrying my Profoto B1x wasn’t an option, so I brought two smaller A1xs and a special mount so they could be mounted side by side and be twice as powerful.

Fitness in Turks & Caicos

Fitness photography in Turks and Caicos includes paths along rocky outcroppings.
Beaches are one of the most iconic places for fitness photography.
Photograph from inside a cave structure in Caicos.
One of my favorite fitness photographs on the beaches of Turks.

Photographing fitness instructors in Turks and Caicos sounds like a dream. It was some of the best accommodations and sunsets of any photoshoot. But Covid curfews and forced us to work quickly. Usually, we were under the mid-day sun, missing the golden hour light of sunrise and sunset. I was able to photograph quickly with a light Profoto kit and a large reflector.

History and Exercise in Egypt & Jordan

Fitness photography can include historic context like the pyramids of Egypt.

Doing yoga in Wadi Rum of Jordan.
Yoga poses in Wadi Rum of Jordan.
Khan el-Khalili is not the normal place for fitness photography, but it works.

Photographing explorers and fitness instructors in Egypt felt like working on my home turf. Since I know the language and have been to the locations many times, I was able to help as a local guide. It was a fun photoshoot, even when we were walking through the desert.

Rhode Island’s Covid Vaccine Challenges

Elderly citizens arrived for vaccinations last month at St. Anthony’s Parish Center in Pawtucket, R.I. The state was hit hard by the coronavirus.

The numbers began ticking up in September. After a quiet summer, doctors at Rhode Island Hospital began seeing one or two patients with Covid-19 on each shift — and soon three. Then four.

Cases climbed steadily until early December, when Rhode Island earned the dubious distinction of having more cases and deaths per 100,000 people than any other state in the country. The case rate still puts it among the top five states.

-Published in the New York Times

  • Central Falls, Rhode Island – February 20: People line up outside the High School before the doors open on February 20, 2021 in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Central Falls High School was turned into a vaccine clinic. Central Falls is the smallest city in the smallest state in the US that’s been tackling one of the highest infection and hospitalization rates. Central Falls is the only majority-minority community in Rhode Island. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Cranston, Rhode Island – February 21: Eleanor Slater Hospital may be mentioned in the story February 21, 2021 in Cranston, Rhode Island. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • East Providence, Rhode Island – February 21: A national map shows Rhode Island in the parking lot of Emma G Whiteknact School February 21, 2021 in East Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Pawtucket, Rhode Island – February 21: Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Catholic Church serving the Cape Verdean community, holds socially distanced services and afterwards Elizabeth DaMoura Moreira, Pawtuckets public health and equity leader handed out supplies and talked with people about Covid-19 February 21, 2021 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Churches in the Ocean State have been allowed to fill to 40 percent capacity, up from 25 percent as of Feb. 12. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Pawtucket, Rhode Island – February 21: Elizabeth DaMoura Moreira, Pawtuckets public health and equity leader, hands out supplies and talk with people about Covid-19 at Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Catholic Church serving the Cape Verdean community February 21, 2021 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Churches in the Ocean State have been allowed to fill to 40 percent capacity, up from 25 percent as of Feb. 12. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Pawtucket, Rhode Island – February 21: Elizabeth DaMoura Moreira, Pawtuckets public health and equity leader, prepares to hand out supplies and talk with people about Covid-19 at Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Catholic Church serving the Cape Verdean community February 21, 2021 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Churches in the Ocean State have been allowed to fill to 40 percent capacity, up from 25 percent as of Feb. 12. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Pawtucket, Rhode Island – February 21: Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Catholic Church serving the Cape Verdean community, holds socially distanced services and afterwards Elizabeth DaMoura Moreira, PawtucketÕs public health and equity leader, handed out supplies and talked with people about Covid-19 February 21, 2021 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Churches in the Ocean State have been allowed to fill to 40 percent capacity, up from 25 percent as of Feb. 12. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Central Falls, Rhode Island – February 21: Gary Berdugo and Jessica Lippe walk the streets as City Health Ambassadors February 21, 2021 in Central Falls, Rhode Island. They start by handing out free masks and then give information about testing and vaccines and can even sign up people for the weekly vaccine clinic. Central Falls faces specific challenges with its high density population so they opened up vaccinations to anyone over 18. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Central Falls, Rhode Island – February 21: Gary Berdugo and Jessica Lippe walk the streets as City Health Ambassadors February 21, 2021 in Central Falls, Rhode Island. They start by handing out free masks and then give information about testing and vaccines and can even sign up people for the weekly vaccine clinic. Central Falls faces specific challenges with its high density population so they opened up vaccinations to anyone over 18. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Providence, Rhode Island – February 20: An ambulance sits outside Rhode Island Hospital on February 20, 2021 in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Central Falls, Rhode Island – February 20: At the end of the day a city employee rests, volunteers, city employees, pharmacists and firefighters staff the Saturday vaccine clinic on February 20, 2021 in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Central Falls High School was turned into a vaccine clinic. Central Falls is the smallest city in the smallest state in the US that’s been tackling one of the highest infection and hospitalization rates. Central Falls is the onlymajority-minority community in Rhode Island. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Pawtucket, Rhode Island – February 20: Portrait of Djini Tavares near Cabo Verde Way, the neighborhood she grew up in, and near the Jewelry factory where she and many Cape Verdeans worked when she was in high school on February 20, 2021 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Djini Tavares lives with her 86-year-old father but when she became infected in July, Ms. Tavares left her home and was prepared to spend about $120 a night to isolate in a covid hotel. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)
  • Central Falls, Rhode Island – February 20: People wait for about 15 minutes after receiving the vaccine to make sure there are no adverse effects on February 20, 2021 in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Central Falls High School was turned into a vaccine clinic. Central Falls is the smallest city in the smallest state in the US that’s been tackling one of the highest infection and hospitalization rates. Central Falls is the only majority-minority community in Rhode Island. (Photo by David Degner/New York Times)