About war photography

Ouch.

Proves: it's easier getting people out of a war than it is to get a war out of people. And, ambition is only good to an extent.
 
War isn't always pretty. It affects different people different ways at different times.

However, this appears to have been simply a short movie. I don't know if it was based on a true story or not. But it is really nothing more than a movie, emotion evoking or not.
 
That is an interesting production. War is hell is all one can really say I guess. When I think of war photography I think of all the holocaust pictures, the My Lai shots, the famous picture of the Afghan girl on the cover of National Geographic. It is a dirty job but someone has to do it. Hopefully it helps the world to be better but I seriously doubt it.

Not a photograph but this is war and how human beings can be and also some of the most heart rendering (I meant to say wrenching but I suppose both terms work in this case) videography I have ever seen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kbLnx5pJNQ
 
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filmfan said:
I have never seen a cheesier video.
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What's cheesy about this video is the fact that the event happens to a young woman most of us are sympathising with. Let's ask ourseves whether we would feel differently if that scene would have happened to a man, or even better, to a male soldier. Would we still care?

Post-traumatic stress syndrome should be taken serious, and should make us think harder about the reasons that make us go to war.

Some of those who made it home are possibly worse off than those who died.
 
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"Who was the photographer who killed himself after an assignment?"

Kevin Carter. But Kevin had suffered from emotional problems for some time. As with most cases, his reason for killing himself was "complicated."
 
Mister E said:
Yeah, I mean watch War Photographer and you'll hear Natschway explain this is not how things are with him.
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Thanks for initially bringing up James Nachtwey. It seems like every time war photography comes up here, I always suggest people rent and watch the movie "War Photographer". It is not by Nachtwey. It is a Christian Frei movie about Nachtwey. It was nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy. It did win a Peabody.

If you won't rent the movie, watch the small screen version on-line.

This is simply a must see.

part of Nachtwey's resume:
He has received numerous honours such as the Common Wealth Award, Martin Luther King Award, Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, Henry Luce Award, Robert Capa Gold Medal (five times), the World Press Photo Award (twice), Magazine Photographer of the Year (seven times), the International Center of Photography Infinity Award (three times), the Leica Award (twice), the Bayeaux Award for War Correspondents (twice), the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award, the Canon Photo essayist Award and the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant in Humanistic Photography. He is a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Arts.
 
Is it the war part of it or the ghastly death part of it? Or the morbid part of humanity that is drawn to it like a moth to a flame and gives it awards and the such when the carnage reaches some sublime level that strikes a cord with everyone???

WAR???
 
Contarama said:
Is it the war part of it or the ghastly death part of it? Or the morbid part of humanity that is drawn to it like a moth to a flame and gives it awards and the such when the carnage reaches some sublime level that strikes a cord with everyone???

WAR???
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Watch what James Nachtwey has to say about war in his acceptance of the 2007 TED award.

His quote "I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated." sums up his motivation to photographing conflict.
 
Is there a difference between war photography and combat photography? eg a picture from Auschwitz vs. a D-Day landing photo?

It seems that way to me but then again what is the difference between an emaciated body lying in a ditch with flies covering it then one lying on the beach in the same situation? Or a picture of Sharon Tate for that matter?

I know one thing for sure...as much as I love photography and chatting with all you photography folks on internet forums I don't think I would ever want to photograph war or the darker deadly side of human beings. I am warped enough already from day to day survival in one of the most affluent countries in the world I think... :)

Where are all of the pictures of dead and dying native americans at??? Surely someone took some???
 
Its a good versus evil thing. When there is a blurry line between the distinctions then there is a good chance you won't be seeing the work in mainstream press.

As to the Nachtwey comments, I would suggest that until you have seen the aftermath of conflict (or the events unfolding in front of you) it will remain impossible to understand the motivations of conflict photographers. Painting any of them with broad strokes of an ill informed brush amounts to nothing more than ignorance.

Bob has repeatedly posted comments from the horses mouth so to speak. They hint at motivations beyond our pontificating and name calling.
 
This issue is as complex and varied as human nature and we will always be able to see things as understandingly or unforgivably as we wish.

Dilemmas (and one hopes never as pointed as the one in the video) are encountered by photographers all the time. Its never pleasant, little or large. Its that soul searching that makes the photographer what he or she is - understanding yourself and understanding others are not always entirely distinct. Perhaps this perpetual state of reflection is inseparable from the motivation for being there.

Without wanting to diverge too much, this issue reminds me of the savage media attacks a journalist I know was subject to for doing an embed with the Taliban. He was not present during any attacks, and was in fact temporarily kidnapped by a particular faction (later released), but while there sought to understand the people - the humans - behind the movement. Upon publication of his article he was mauled, as if his being present amongst those who were opposing ISAF was tantamount to collusion and 'killing our boys.' His explanation (that he was simply trying to strip away preconceptions and understand their ideas and motivations), was considered completely unworthy of merit. The fact that the US military is heavily engaged in trying to understand the exact same issues did nothing to prevent this mauling. He was branded irresponsible and an unpatriotic journalism of the worst kind (by many in the media and Govt). I believe some members of the public made death threats!

Its very hard to be an independent witness. Everyone thinks they have a claim on you.
 
JSU said:
Am I the only one who finds it a bit ironic that the OP shares the same given name with Joao Silva who was recently gravely wounded covering combat in Afghanistan?
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Joao is like John of the Portuguese speaking world, so...
 
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