The Greatest Photographer You've Never Heard Of

This is Bob Miller. We met a few years ago when he was a freshman at Samford. He approached me about a magazine that he was starting with some friends that focused on extraordinary people and their stories. I thought it was a cool idea, but figured it was a typical pipe dream of an idealic college student that would never truly amount to anything. But Bob doesn't blow smoke. He does what he says he will do. Fast forward two years and Bob has his college mag, Engage, off the ground and people are really enjoying it. He decides that he wants to not only write the stories but shoot them as well. The one problem though is that Bob knows nothing about photography. Instead of taking the typical route of those that wish to learn the trade (buy a digital camera, buy photoshop, and play around with levels until your images look like cartoons) he took a rode less traveled. He took an entire month off and read books. He read about the history, the philosophies, and the legends of the trade. He saturated his mind with images and words of those that have gone before us and paved the way. Then he found some old cameras of his grandfather and started to shoot. Now fast forward one year more to the present day. Bob is a senior at Samford and decided to do a photography independent study during the month of January. His project was to document persecuted Christians in the Sudan. To get to the Sudan though, Bob had to travel by way of Nairobi Kenya, which at the time was experiencing the worst political turmoil the country had seen in years. Instead of avoiding the danger, Bob made a decision that any good photojournalist would make and dove in head first. He chose to put his life on the line in order to tell the story of these oppressed and cheated Kenyan nationals.

Here is what he captured:









His work is both striking and personal. I am completely amazed that he is still in college. I cannot wait to see where God takes him in life. Who knows, he may be the next James Nachtwey.

Bob has put together a pretty amazing website to tell the stories behind the images. Please check it out HERE. I hope you take the time to look at and read the stories.

Also if you like what you see, Bob is offering a chance for people to buy a print in order to fund his trip since it all came out of his pocket. Click HERE to buy a print and support the cause.

If you dig Bob's work, sign up to receive info on his site or just leave him a comment on this post and I will make sure he gets it.

You rock, Bob. Thanks for inspiring us.