Importance

[Bill Pierce]

News photographers take pictures of important and exceptional people and events. After awhile at this, some photographers begin to feel that they are important and exceptional. For the most part, this is not true. But, among the exceptions where the photographers are important is that group of photographers who choose to photograph wars, photograph suffering, wounding and death and risk it themselves. The risk is very real.

From around the world numbers of news photographers are, by choice, accepting that risk and traveling to Ukraine to join the photographers there. It’s not something they have to do. It’s something they want to do. Here are just a few of the many photographers making that choice.

Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario for the New York Times, hardly their first war

Wolfgang Schwan, 31 and apparently photographing his first war produced a strong and telling image of a woman in Chuhuiv injured in an air strike, her head wrapped in gauze, her face covered in blood.

The Australian photographer Chris McGrath, a Getty shooter for the 19 years working out of New York, Singapore, Tokyo and Istaanbul

AFP photographer Aris Messinis working out of Greece

Emilio Morenatti, AP Pulitizer winner

And the list goes on - a long list of photographers that are important.

 

[Coldkennels]

And it seems that these guys are more at risk than a lot of earlier war photographers.

This video appeared on Friday: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t6tk3i/news_team_ambushed_by_russian_snipers_barely/

There's a section mid-way through that where the journalists identify themselves as journalists only for something to be shouted back in Russian and the gunfire starts back up.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen or heard of photographers or journalists being purposely shot at during a war before.

 

[Bill Pierce]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen or heard of photographers or journalists being purposely shot at during a war before.

Islamic militant groups did execute journalists and post the executions on their websites. Quite a change from earlier days. Pre internet, when printed news was one of the few ways to reach the public, I was actually given bodyguards when I was photographing anti-American demonstrations in Lebanon. And my experience was not unique.

That said, one of my closest friends, Olivier Rebbot, died when he was hit by sniper fire in El Salvador. A fair number of our little group of friends were wounded and one other killed. (The Mozambique civil war ended my career. You can’t be a “foreign correspondent” when you have to see your doctor once a week.)

As to why a lot of folks choose to do it - wouldn’t you love to have a chance to do something absolutely, genuinely worthwhile with photography.

 

[BillBingham2]

These Guys and Gals are critical to our understanding of what is going on in the world. So many lives risked, too many lost, without them so much 5hit happens and we would never truly understand the impact.

I would have loved to do the stuff that you Bill and other do, but other things seemed more important at the time. In point of fact, none were. Too many responsibilities now intertwined around stuff.

My admiration and respect go out to all who put large parts of their lives and dreams aside to help the rest of us know the truth. Thank you, my full respect for what you do, and my wish for a long happy life for you and yours seems anemic, but I don't know what else I can do or say.

B2 (;->

 

[Bill Pierce]

My admiration and respect go out to all...

I don’t think any of us had other people we were fully responsible for. If you had a family, children, elderly parents or anything like that, you certainly didn’t want an assignment where you disappeared for months. Meeting your responsibilities may not be as exciting, but it’s more important.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

These days photos and videos are taken by witnesses. Distributed by independent media and stored in the cloud.
The importance of professionals doing it is in their experience. Which is unfortunately repetitive.

 

[rfaspen]

So I ask myself: Do I trust an anonymous Russian Instagram or Bill Pierce? This may be why not repetitive. However, it may be augmentation or synergy or reinforcement or ...... validation (one way or other).
I fully appreciate those professional journalists/photographers. I also appreciate those genuine witnesses, but I live in a world where I've been served false images. Professional Journalism (incl. photo) is perhaps more important now than ever.