Watched an amazing DVD last night – James Nachtwey, War Photographer. Nachtwey is one of a kind – has been on the front lines and in close with the people in Kosovo, Rwanda, Jakarta, and all over the world photographing the human face of war, poverty, and famine. He’s calm, centered, serious, and deeply compassionate. Much of this disc is difficult to watch, but don’t hesitate — his images (jamesnachtwey.com seems to be malfunctioning) raise something up in the soul, something non-political and yet profoundly anti-war (famine is usually a result of war, he points out).
Went to bed with his images in my head. When I woke up they were still there. There are few examples of a life better spent. It’s too rare to see documentaries made of people who are still alive, but Nachtwey’s life demands it. If he continues this line of work, his number will come up sooner than later; all the more reason to document while he’s still alive.
Nachtwey’s number already came up, in Baghdad, when his Humvee had a grenade thrown into it:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-wotime123581052dec12,0,7608002.story?coll=ny-nationworld-headlines
“According to people he works with at Time, he picked up the grenade and tossed it out, losing his right hand in the process while saving four lives,” the memo said.
Chris, the article at newsday says that Weiskopf, the photog Nachtwey was with, threw out the grenade.
“The memo said Nachtwey received shrapnel wounds that were not as serious.”
So it sounds like Nachtwey was probably alright in the end.
Ooops, my mistake.
This is what’s wrong with American democracy: It allows the freedom to make stupid reading mistakes.
HE IS A VERY GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER, ANDI DID SEE HIS DOCUMENTARY IS VERY GOOD TOO. BUT. I WILL LIKE TO KNOW HOW HE IS, I KNOW HE DID HAVE A PROBLEM IN IRAK??????, PLEASE CAN YOU TELL ME??? THANK YOU