Photojournalist, James Nachtwey is considered by many to be the greatest war photographer of recent decades. He was introduced to me not by the military, but by Deborah Small, one of my professors at Cal State San Marcos. James Nachtwey’s career as a war photographer began in 1981 when he covered civil unrest in Northern Ireland. Since then he has photographed more than 25 armed conflicts as well as dozens of critical social issues. He has received the Robert Capa Gold Medal, World Press Award, Magazine Photographer of the Year, and I.C.P. Infinity Award multiple times.
I like a lot of Nachtwey’s work, and he certainly makes me think. Some of his images hold so much beauty and are very striking. As a trained combat photographer myself, I think war photography is important, and Nachtwey does it well. I believe its important to capture these moments, to let people really know whats going on in a war and sometimes imagery is the best way to educate people. I know some people get offended by photographs of grieving parents or a young child with no shoes on in the middle of a war, but I feel its important to give those people a voice, since they can’t tell there story to everyone. Some people may not agree with the “voice” or the person’s actions that are being photographed, but I believe that it’s my job to expose people to those photos to understand what is happening in the world. But not even in a war, but expose people to whats happening outside of America and hope they can appreciate there life more. I suggest you to watch, War Photographer, by Christian Frei, in which Nachtwey describes what its like to be a war photographer.
diBenedetto Photography 