Life Force Magazine

The Ax Men by John Burcham I had the opportunity through my agency, National Geographic Assignment, to do a shoot for the History Channel. The shoot took place in three states and, initially, did not seem like an easy task. Despite this I was very excited to take on this challenge. The shoot was for a reality show called Ax Men. It documents the physically difficult and potentially deadly job of being a logger in the Northwest. Ax Men does not exaggerate in any way the true nature of the life of a logger. Their job really is extreme, dangerous and, in my opinion, probably one of the hardest ways of making a living today. Photographically this assignment turned out to be very challenging. The Pacific Northwest weather didn't help with its predictably cold and rainy days. This shoot required both photojournalism and commercial style images, which we set up right there on the work site. All of the adversities of this job and the great characters who take on this occupation, made this shoot one of my favorite assignments.