After watching the documentary “War Photographer” by
Christian Frei, I realize war photography is more complex than just taking
photos.
Overall, there were several aspects of war photography the
film showed that surprised me. One aspect was how delivering photographs is a
huge team effort, comprising of different groups such as forensic scientists
and anthropologists. After a village was destroyed in the Kosovo War, a series
of preparations had to be done before photojournalists could take pictures and record
observations. Forensic scientists would investigate the devastated area as they
try to gather the pieces of what exactly happened. Anthropologists would find
scattered bones in the area and attempt to place them together with the
previous owner. Once forensics and anthropologists gave a stamp of approval,
then photojournalists would be able to enter the area and conduct their work.
It’s amazing to see how groups of people with different professions all work
together for the same cause. I was also fascinated with how photographer James
Nachtwey is able to handle his emotions when dealing with tragic situations. During
a photography exhibit, Nachtwey said that showing emotions in devastating
situations would utterly be useless. Instead, Nachtwey channels his emotions of
anger or grief into his photographs to truly show the world how disastrous the
situation is.
Obviously, I find all of Nachtwey’s images very powerful as
they tell a different story of a different tragic event. One picture in
particular however, stunned me as it made me realize how different one
country’s lifestyle can be. Nachtwey went to Jakarta, Indonesia where he took
photos of a junkyard to study how horrendous poverty is in the country. What
shocked me however were the workers in the junkyard, as they weren’t your
average age man; but young children who are considered of elementary school
age. These non-educated children work in disgusting positions, as they’d pick
up garbage, deal with the stench of trash and wore rubber sandals when walking
across the junkyard. Not only are these kids working in hazardous conditions,
but also they earn a measly 85 cents a day. Photographs of these young children
made me realize how blessed I was to live in a country where kids aren’t
required to do harsh labor in dangerous conditions.
Lastly, I believe news photographs play a huge role in
shaping world events. As Nachtwey previously stated, photographs from the Vietnam
War showed humans what was happening on the ground from the perspective of a
soldier. These photographs were a huge contradiction to what military and
political leaders would tell their citizens, as photographs showed how violent
and cruel the war was. Thanks to photojournalists taking powerful pictures of
the war, it sparked several events worldwide such as anti-war movements, where
your average citizen would protest on the street against the U.S. involvement in
the war.
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