Robert Clark // “If i could do one thing in my career over, i would have moved there for a year.”

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Welcome to @thesearcherpodcast, conversations with storytellers, creatives, healers, and others in search of what it all means. On this episode of the show, I speak with National Geographic photographer Robert Clark, a dear friend and mentor. Robert was one of the first occupants of a Brooklyn, NY, building known in the photo world as the Kibbutz, which after 9-11 became a temporary home for some of the best photojournalists in the world. Not long after meeting Rob, he found me a place inside this building, where I met some of these photographers. It was one of the most magical and inspiring periods of my life, and it was all thanks to Rob. Based in New York City, Robert Clark has photographed more than 50 stories for National Geographic and is the author of five monographs.

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In 1988, when Robert Clark was in his early twenties, he traveled to Odessa, Texas, to create a visual element for a book about a high school football team. That book was Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights―the chronicle of a season with the Permian Panthers, one of the state’s winningest teams of all time.

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About twenty photos appeared in Bissinger’s book, but Clark shot 137 rolls of film during his time with the Panthers. Friday Night Lives collects dozens of the never-before-seen images, taking us back to the team, the city, and that dramatic season. The archival photos, published in 2020 on the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of Bissinger's bestseller, capture intimate moments among the players and their families and classmates, as well as the wider world of Odessa.

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Now the players have grown up. Friday Night Lives also includes Clark’s portraits of key Panthers figures at a later age, documenting complex lives of beauty and struggle. Boobie Miles, the star fullback sidelined by injury, is here, along with Coach Gaines and others. In his heartfelt foreword, best-selling author Hanif Abdurraqib describes how Clark's photos rehumanize the players, reminding us of the truth of their young lives before their stories became nationally known in print, film, and television.

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Follow Robert Clark:

Instagram: @robertclarkphoto

Web: http://www.robertclark.com/

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Buy Friday Night Lives:

https://www.amazon.com/Friday-Night-Lives-Caldwell-Endowment/dp/1477321195

Buy Friday Night Nights:

https://www.amazon.com/Friday-Night-Lights-25th-Anniversary/dp/0306824205/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=friday+night+lights&qid=1605221093&s=books&sr=1-1

Watch the series Friday Night Lights:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00C158CJS/ref=atv_dp_b00_det_c_UTPsmN_1_1

Watch the film Friday Night Lights:

https://www.amazon.com/Friday-Night-Lights-Billy-Thornton/dp/B001NI24OI/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=friday+night+lights&qid=1605220997&sr=8-3

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Additional links:

Searcher Instagram: @thesearcherpodcast

Searcher website: http://michaelchristopherbrown.com/searcher/

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