ABC News’ Kuba Kamiński has taken a camera to the most dangerous places in the world. He witnessed the annexation of Crimea, took pictures at the frontline in Ukraine, filmed Hamas fighters in Gaza, and was there after Israel launched its offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Harbingers’ Politics Section Editor Klara Hammudeh and HRB Film & Book Club writer Kaja Majewska asked him about the costs and rewards that come from catching history on film.

The following excerpt from the recorded interview was edited for clarity and consistency.

Klara Hammudeh (KH): So what makes you do it? What inspires you to go and do it?

Kuba Kamiński: Probably my dysfunctional upbringing. Normal people don’t do that, they don’t throw themselves into conflict zones.

I think my fascination with photography started when I was 14. Then, I went through all stages of photography and discovered that the most interest I have is in human beings and human behaviour. I wanted to pursue the photography of people. I found out that the most interesting thing for me is to take pictures of people in extreme situations. By the age of 16, I knew I wanted to pursue war photography.

When I was 17, I managed to get my first job as a photographer, at one of the biggest newspapers in Poland, Rzeczpospolita. I think it was 2006 when I was sent to Belarus, for the presidential elections. I was 21 years old… sorry, my math is terrible, that’s why I’m a photographer. When I went there and covered the elections, I felt like it’s what I want to do. I was sold on this.

Kaja Majewska (KM): Mental illnesses probably are helpful, but photographing the war is a sensitive topic. Have you ever had any problems when the government wouldn’t allow you to post certain pictures?

Many times I couldn’t take pictures somewhere. Sometimes, you just don’t do it because you can lose your freedom or your life.

It was in 2014, it was the annexation of Crimea. My friend from Reuters called me, told me that there’s one last Ukrainian base that has not surrendered to the Russians and said: “This base is gonna be raided by Russians in the next hour.” I took my rental and I drove to this small town, it was minutes before the Ukrainians stopped letting people in.

I remember we were going over the fence, because the Ukrainians were using plywood and pieces of furniture to stop the Russians. An hour later, the Russians came. They had two armoured cars that went through brick walls and started shooting. We were on the ground, I took pictures of all that.

After the Ukrainians surrendered, [the Russians] rounded up all the media and said: “You can walk away safely, but you need to give us all the footage you took of this raid.” I remember those people very clearly. They were all Spetsnaz [special forces] soldiers, fully equipped, with masks, and everything.

I found an empty SD card [a type of memory card] and a function that allowed me, as I was waiting to be searched, to make a full copy of the card. I pretended to be tying my shoelace, and slipped one SD card into my shoe. When they came up to me, I just showed the pictures and played like: “Oh no, please don’t take my card.” He took my card and snapped it in half.

But I had the second one in my shoe. I sent the pictures from my car, just outside the base.

It’s kind of a funny story, there aren’t lots of moments when I feel like I’m showing something that someone else wouldn’t want to be public. That’s when I know that I’m in the right place.

KH: How do you mentally cope with all those trips? For example, Gaza?

When I went to Jordan to talk to refugees from Gaza, it was very hard mentally for me.

Suddenly, we saw a warplane flying over us. I remember everyone started shooting towards it. The plane took a turn and the only thing I remember was a missile that it launched towards us. I thought I was going to die. The missile hit 300 metres away from us, making a big hole. The jet scrambled.

Another situation was in Ukraine in 2014. I was laying in a ditch while being shot at with mortars.These are the moments when that I had doubts about this career.

KM: I saw your photos from Auschwitz-Birkenau, and I really liked this one of tourists coming out of a bus. It’s a very meaningful picture. But if you wanted to film it and the tourists went out of the frame, it wouldn’t have such meaning. How do you connect film and photography?

As terrible as it may sound, I love going to Auschwitz. Every time I’m there, I’m fully aware of the terror that happened there, and I’m very sensitive to touching something that was a part of history.

However, when I see people in the crowd having fun, kids who aren’t thinking about where they are, those families who are just exhausted after a long day of walking around Krakow and then they go on a bus to Auschwitz – those small things are very interesting to me.

It’s a good idea to film in Auschwitz. I’m actually backtracking my career and thinking, looking at the world, like this would be a good piece of video or documentary. I think it would be great.