Could You Be A War Photographer?

Great article.

It’s never even crossed my mind to think of war photography as “crass opportunism”. Again and again in recent history they’ve been the ones bringing home news and evidence that governments might not want ordinary people to see. Robert Capa’s Spanish Civil War photos, for example, or most famously the many photos that came out of Vietnam. (Vietnam’s tribute to American war photographers in the War Remnants Museum in HCMC is one of the more moving museum exhibits I’ve ever seen…) Even when they’re not unveiling “reality” in a political sense, they can teach those of us who stay back home so much. Capa (again – I’m a big Capa fan) is pretty much the reason why ordinary people know as much as we do about the experience of the D-Day landings.

(Capa’s book, by the way, is called Slightly Out of Focus. He wrote it about his career in Spain and Normandy before being killed by a land mine in Vietnam.)

Really great post. I hadn’t thought of what photographers go through – and the decisions they’re forced to make – during war and natural disasters until I visited the recently re-opened Newseum here in DC 2 weeks ago. The Pulitzer Prize winning photo exhibit was harrowing.

The photo that sticks out most in my mind was of a starving African child on the ground with a vulture right behind her, waiting for her to die. The quote from the photographer said that image haunts him and if he could go back and pick her up, he would. I can’t imagine trying to stay objective when witnessing something like that.

This is a great article. A book that really hit home when I read it, was Jon Steele’s “War Junkie” (review at http://www.eyeflare.com/article/war-junkie-by-jon-steele/).

While Mr Steele was an ITN (Independent Television News) video photographer, he visited a number of the worst flashpoints of the time, including Rwanda. It’s a gut wrenching read, but I couldn’t put it down even while feeling quite ill imagining the brutalities he’d witnessed.

The photogs who cover these situations aren’t opportunists, they’re very brave people who risk their life to bring us the reality of what our (and “the other side’s” politicians are throwing our soldiers into.

I am looking, at this time, into becoming a war photographer. My dad and grandfathers were soldiers, but I was unable to make the cut in the military due to my health. So, I would like to understand war through the lens of my camera. I would like to help portray the story of the dying soldier, and those who have passed on. I have a love for photography, and a high regard for the men and women who are fighting these wars. Trust me; I don't like war, but those soldiers who are fighting for our freedom deserve to have their story told through an unbiased source, because I can only shoot my camera by the freedoms they fight to uphold.

Hi

I’m a middle aged man living in Liverpool, Uk. I’m very interested in using what remains of my life to pursue a career in War photography. Like a previous commenter I wanted desperately to join the military but was unable to due to health concerns. My reasons for wanting to join were to do with the absence in me of a coherent sense of identity, knowing who I am. Watching a documentary about Jim Nachtwey I was intrigued by his realisation that in doing what he did he came to know who he was, I guess that ties in with recognising his purpose and hence finding meaning in his life. This is what I want, what I need.

I’ve recently returned from a road trip I took on my Motor cycle around central Europe focussing on the Balkans. I did this in an attempt to find this elusive aspect of my personality, to find myself and to find truth which, in essence, is what people like Nachtwey do. My trip reached its climax in the Albania, Macedonia, Serbia region and most significantly in Kosovo where I discovered there is an ongoing peacekeeping mission taking place under a Kfor banner. It was here I experienced the synthesis of truth and contemporary reality as I witnessed NATO/ Kfor American Humvees, Italian APC’s and Turkish military vehicles among others patrolling in and around Pristina. I travelled north into Serbia to be refused entry for having a Kosovan state immigration stamp in my passport whereupon I had to take a long diversion through Montenegro to cross at an undisputed border checkpoint. I spoke with and experienced Serbians hospitality and frustration at finding themselves having to shoulder the burden of loser and, by extension, the guilt and shame for a conflict saturated in complexity and the weight of history.

I also shared time experience with others involved; Bosnians, Croats and perhaps most significantly Kosovan Albanians who appear to have benefited most obviously from the post settlement peace. I was puzzled by this as they seemed to be very much on the periphery of the conflict but again the picture became clearer and again deeply fascinating when I discovered how rich Kosovo is in mineral deposits. All of this, of which I have only shared a glimpse changed me, it made me aware reality in colours and tones I’d never experienced before. I treasured the dust on my bike and camera equipment for the days it remained and I want nothing more strongly than the chance to return to this kind of environment and capture images similar to the ones I got while I was there. I would be grateful for any and all advice.

Yours Paul Thomason