My name is Lee Durant and I am a staff cameraman for BBC News. I am based in Istanbul and work throughout the middle east as one of their Shoot Edit crews.
This is my personal portfolio website where I aim to build up and show a record of some of the work that I do. I have a blog page where I will post videos of the stories that I work on and other bits that interest me. It is also a way to develop my writing skills.
Latest Blog Posts
- A remote edit – Police brutality in India
Due to the lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic the world of newsgathering has changed dramatically. Social distancing, quarantines and lack of worldwide travel has meant that we are relying more and more on Zoom, Skype and Facetime for interviews and verified UGC for a good portion of our meaningful content. This is an example of many stories from around the world that we are having to cover from afar. - Reopening for RehabAfter being stuck in lockdown for a while now it was great to be shooting again. I was tasked to join a team to film at the former military rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in surrey which reopened recently, not as a recovery centre for the limbless or the battle scarred, but as a recovery centre for the patients of Coronavirus. The Seacole Centre as it is now named has opened to cater for Covid patients and others who need help with their recovery.
- A digital explainer – The Venezuelan gold tradeThis piece about the Venezuelan gold trade was commissioned by BBC Digital at the height of the 2019 leadership crisis in the South American country. At the time Mark Lowen was the Turkey correspondent. He and I created this explainer, reporting from Istanbul.
- Four cameras and a Prime MinisterThis shoot was conducted in the West Bank after the US and Israel agreed to the so-called deal of the century. The Palestinian authority predictably had issues with the plan and in response their Prime Minister agreed to an interview with Orla. Filmed as a two crew shoot I went along with our Jerusalem based fellow shoot/edit Jimmy Michael.
- Commemorating the Centenary of the battle of AmiensFilmed with Sophie Raworth, I set up three cameras to shoot this VT in the wonderful cathedral of Amiens where we met and interviewed one of the relatives of a young soldier who died in the battle.
- Tales of Tainted BloodI’ve recently been involved in producing a three part series of self-authored VT’s that tell the stories of people profoundly affected by the biggest scandal ever to hit the National Health Service,
