So spending large amounts of your time taking photographs can not only be tough on you, but also tough on your clothing. For this reason I like to have a general 'work' jacket that I wear while out shooting. You need something that is versatile, practical and hard wearing. A jacket with removable lining is very useful, especially when traveling, as it means you're covered for both day and night time temperatures. For practicality what I really mean is pockets, lots of them, to carry all those vital bits of equipment while out shooting - maps, notebook, pen, business cards etc, and not forgetting the two most critical pieces of kit, number 1. Memory cards (never keep exposed memory cards in your camera bag) and in my case number 2. Tobacco.
Here is a picture of me in my faithful old jacket with my new best friend while taking photographs in Marrakech in 2008:
It was time for it to be replaced and after a bit of research I discovered that this style of jacket is based on the M65 field jacket used by the U.S military since 1965. After a bit more research I found a military retailer in the East End by the name of Silvermans who stock them and bought myself a couple (see the images at the top of the post). If you are the type of person who travels a lot and need hard wearing equipment then I can recommend a trip to Silvermans - if they don't have it, you don't need it.
The M65 is made (as you would imagine) to be very durable and I'm sure that it will stand up to the hazards of being a documentary photographer which in my experience have included: the cold, wind, rain, dust, mud, smoke, sparks, spilt drinks and 'the man' as seen below:
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