Charlie Riedel shooting table tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)
1979 graduate Charlie Riedel employed as AP photographer
Several Hays High graduates have gone off to pursue various interesting career ventures, and alumni Charlie Riedel is among them.
Since 2000, Riedel has been employed out of Kansas City as photographer for the Associated Press.
Riedel said he first took up an interest in photography as a sophomore in high school, utilizing an unused darkroom in his house to develop his pictures.
“I then became involved with the Guidon and yearbook at Hays High as photographer,” Riedel said. “And that’s pretty much all I’ve done since.”
After his graduation in 1979, Riedel attended FHSU where he worked for the student-run newspaper and yearbook while obtaining his degree. He then worked a short stent of time at the Salina Journal before moving back to Hays and spending 17 years employed at the Hays Daily News.
Riedel has been working as an AP photographer for 16 years now. Among his typical assignments are covering Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, KU, and K-State games. Stationed in Kansas City for half of the year, he spends the other half traveling.
“On the road, I cover assignments like the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and major golf tournaments,” Riedel said. “For instance, I just got done covering the World Series.”
Although the majority of his assignments are sports-related, Riedel has also covered serious news events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the tornado in Joplin, Mo., the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the riots in Ferguson, Mo.
“Sports fans would probably think that things like covering the Cubs’ World Series win would be the most interesting part of my job, and on one level it is interesting,” Riedel said. “But what really excites me are the news stories that impact people—I enjoy bringing those major events to the public.”
A protester watches a police car burn after the announcement of the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Some of Riedel’s most recognized photographs were taken during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. He was among the first to capture photos of birds severely covered in oil. His photographs received thousands of hits on Facebook and Twitter in the following days.
A laughing gull is mired in oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Although he appreciates sports photography immensely, Riedel finds the most importance lies in the facets of his photography that are more impromptu and leave a lasting impression.
“Sports are predictable,” Riedel said. “Big news that needs coverage like the riots in Ferguson or tornadoes is not.”
Beverly Winans hugs her daughter Debbie Surlin while salvaging items from Winans’ devastated home in Joplin, Mo. Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Winans and her husband rode out the EF-5 tornado by hiding under a bed in the home. The tornado tore through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses and killing at least 123 people. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
In addition to his sports photography and hard-hitting news coverage, Riedel often takes aesthetically pleasing photos of nature and features of everyday life. All of which can be found by searching his name on the AP website.
A waning full moon rises behind a statue of a Kansa Indian on top of the Kansas Statehouse Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
“It really has been a great career because I get to see history being made in a way,” Riedel said. “I’ve seen horrible events like 9/11, wildfires, and big tornadoes like in Joplin. I don’t get pleasure from seeing the destruction, but I do get satisfaction from bringing impactful news to the people.”
18lgregory@usd489.com