How to prep for an interview with an internationally renowned photojournalist

It’s just a little bit intimidating.

I thought my week had peaked when the ABC’s Spencer Howson followed me back on Twitter. For a little student reporter from Kingaroy, the peanut capital of Australia, this was easily the highlight of my month. But I was wrong.

Sorry, Spence.

Today I am making my Storyology reporting debut with none other than the 2016 Gold Walkley-winning photographer, Andrew Quilty.

And I am scared stiff.

Despite having followed Quilty’s work for a number of years, I am still jolted with the cold steel rod of reality whenever I see one of his images from Afghanistan, a world so far from the comfortable, sheltered world I inhabit in Brisbane.

Case in point: The Man on the Operating Table. Andrew Quilty shot this image inside the Médecins Sans Frontières Kunduz Trauma Center in Afghanistan, following the Oct. 3, 2015, attack by an American AC-130 gunship on the hospital in which 42 were killed, including MSF staff, patients and patient carers. It was named the 2016 Nikon-Walkley Photo of the Year.

Quilty has captured some of the most horrific scenes of humanity and yet — as I gathered, watching him speak twice earlier this week — he maintains an empathetic, respectful attitude toward his subjects.

You can tell, too, scrolling through his Instagram feed. A lot of photojournalists just take the gory photos and leave. Not Andrew — he humanizes them. His Instagram captions aren’t just hashtags, they’re stories. (And he never posts selfies.)

Andrew spoke on Wednesday night about why he has decided to stay on in Kabul. He feels committed to his role in Afghanistan, despite having little optimism.

He originally went to Afghanistan to tick it off his journalistic bucket list, he said. But he formed strong connections with people and Afghan culture.

This is a man who has witnessed firsthand the effect war has on people, and who will now return knowing President Trump wishes to send more troops to the region.

I — a twentysomething Australian who has never seen a dead body — was bewildered to learn he doesn’t seek professional counselling to process what he sees in the field. Quilty comes off as a classic stoic, reserved Aussie male. He says the best way of dealing with work is to talk about it with friends and colleagues.

How can I possibly breach this subject with with a man who makes a living recording fatalities without stumbling or putting my foot in my mouth?

And how badly does the journalist in me really want to know?

I guess I’ll just have to dive right on in.