By Holly Stuart Hughes

When he graduated from college, James Pomerantz aspired to cover conflicts. "I'd seen War Photographer, I'd read The Bang-Bang Club and Shutterbabe, I had visions of running around dangerous places, shooting war." He moved to Bangkok hoping to find action, then while he was visiting a friend in Miami, civil war broke out in Haiti. He bought a bulletproof vest, flew to Port au Prince, and took photos he calls "crappy." "It quickly became clear I don't like guns, or loud noises, or driving around looking for the danger." Stints in Gaza and shooting for the New York Post were no more satisfying, but along the way, he says, he learned from fellow photojournalists. He was traveling in South Asia when the 2005 earthquake struck Kashmir. After the disaster faded from the headlines, he documented its aftermath, landing his first magazine assignments.

A turning point came when he saw Rena Effendi's work from her native Azerbaijan. Pomerantz, who grew up shuttling between America and England, wanted to explore the country "at an interesting crossroads." In Azerbaijan, "I had planned on photographing the oil industry, but I ended up just traveling, photographing things that resonated with me." His medium-format images, "my strongest work to date," were shown in the Open Society's "Moving Walls" exhibition and earned him a slot in the World Press Masterclass. For the class, he photographed life on the border between Abkhazia and Georgia. When Russia later invaded Georgia, Pomerantz knew he should leave the story to other photojournalists.

With newfound confidence in his photographic voice, Pomerantz has now challenged himself to photograph the States. "It's always much easier, I think, to photograph the exotic. For me, it's harder to photograph the subtle and familiar."

PDN'S 30 GALLERY Profiles on this year's selection of 30 new and emerging photographers to watch…