Photographer Carlos Gonzalez Captures our Highs and Lows

Carlos Gonzalez shoots all kinds of assignment photography, but his main focus is sports. This year, he had the opportunity to shoot both Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis and the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. While we were interviewing Carlos at the Star Tribune's offices in downtown Minneapolis, he was working with his editor to put together a portfolio of his best work so far this year.

“One of the most fulfilling parts of my job is being able to tell people's stories. They're trusting you to tell their stories, so there's a lot of responsibility in that. And I've met a countless number of people, and everyone's been wonderful in the sense of letting me in and letting me document what their life is like. It's a really remarkable thing that people allow you to do that.”

In addition to chronicling fast-paced sports events, Carlos has been in the unenviable position of photographing people in mourning: “It's always a very difficult situation. You come in and someone experienced some kind of tragedy in their life, maybe lost a loved one, and we go and meet with the family and are there to tell their story, which is very important, but they're going through a very difficult time in their life, and to show that in a respectful way, it's difficult.”

“There are instances where tensions can be high. We were sent out to cover the protests for Jamar Clark and there was this sense of anger, and in a situation like that, you just have to know how to diffuse the situation, sense how people are. It's all part of the job and how you do it, and there are ways to diffuse situations and there are ways to escalate situations. Every situation is different, and you have to know the best way to handle it.”

With so many people in the world able to take photos at the push of a cell-phone button, I asked Carlos whether or not he thought this phenomenon was weakening photojournalism. Carlos said he provides a consistency that casual photographers can’t deliver, and looking over his body of work, I tend to agree with him - though he does appreciate the real-time significance of taking photos with his cell phone and sharing them on his Instagram page.

Special Thanks: StarTribune, Target Field
Additional Media: National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball
Minnesota Music: Doomtree, John Mark Nelson, Noah Hoen, The Goondas, River High
Production Team: Slade Kemmet, Susan Thao, Joe Demko, Ezra Gold

This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.