War Photographer

Few words in the world resonate as loudly as the word “war”. Such a short word can be more powerful than the longest word. It has power. It shakes us to our core, targeting images of death and destruction. It reminds us of the gaping holes in the conduct of mankind. Few choose to think about the word often because of the amount of hate and hurt it holds in its three short letters. But James Nachtwey has made it his life.

He is a war photographer. One of the most demanding and detrimental jobs a human could have, it forces him to confront that small, yet powerful word every day of his life. It forces him to enter into the world’s battlegrounds and become a part of it. With his camera, Nachtwey immerses himself in a dangerous world, putting his life at risk. Even more so, he puts his sanity and humanness at risk.

James Nachtwey’s War Photographer is a unique film that captures the spirit of this profession, or at least the spirit of Nachtwey, better than anything else could. The movie is a compilation of raw, real photographs and video clips from Nachtwey’s life photographing war. The images are difficult to look at. The ones in the action are morbid, horrifying and shocking. The ones that capture the effects of the action, namely the emotions, are depressing and heart-wrenching.

While watching this movie gave me an appreciation for Nachtwey and his profession, I do not agree with it. Nachtwey says in the film that he photographs war so he can show the rest of the world just how cruel people can be and hopefully change the world. I think it is admirable to want to take it upon yourself to end war, but I also think that it is foolish. Photographing war may inspire some people to protest it, but I do not think that it can do much more than that. I suppose with something like war, where everything is chaotic and unclear, there is not much else to do but raise your voice. And Nachtwey has done just that. He has a loud voice through his deeply touching photographs. They are beautiful in a sad way and ugly in that they are reality. Nachtwey hopes that with his widespread circulation of war photographs, he can force people to know what they pretend not to know and face reality and stop war. 

But unbelievable photography is not the answer to war and Nachtwey may spend the rest of his life never seeing satisfying change. I think that he has dedicated himself to the cause and as long as his photographs are being published he feels that he is making a difference, and he just might be. But I think that he lost himself and the rest of his life in a field that showed him only sadness and misery. Not only could I not view some of his photos, but I cannot imagine being there for the moments they were taken. I am one of those who shutters at the little word “war”. I could never bring a camera into a battlefield and “work” while others die in front of me. I could never flash an intrusive white light in the eyes of someone who is grieving at the loss of their child. If I saw a man get shot in front of my face, my emotions would overpower any journalistic purpose I had. That may not fit in to the black and white ethics of journalists but we are human beings first.

A good journalist is supposed to be detached from their subjects in order to accurately report a story. But how is it possible to detach yourself from war once you have already been exposed to its disturbing images. I think that Nachtwey had a problem doing this as well. He became so consumed by the terror that it sucked the life out of him. He did not want it to affect his journalism so he buried it inside him. But it was still there haunting him. In all of the solo shots of Nachtwey, it looked like he had just seen a ghost. And he had seen thousands of them. He persevered through the pain by dehumanizing it. But that, I think is against the whole point of his journalism: to provide a human aspect to war that forces people to sympathize and make a change. Nachtwey held the power of a million war photographs and videos inside him and it seems like the war took him as a casualty. The woman who was his former girlfriend was important insight into his lack of humanity due to his job as a war photographer. He couldn’t smile, he couldn’t relax and forget about work for a second.

I really enjoyed the movie because it showed me something I could never have known without seeing it with my own eyes. Nachtwey’s photos of course made me more against war than I ever was. But, they also disturbed and upset me, even watching it from a journalistic point of view. It kept me wondering how disturbed and upset he must be deep down. I was able to walk out of my journalism class let the beauty of the world help me forget about the horror I had seen. Nachtwey cannot walk out on war. It is a part of him forever. I must say that I respect him and think he is a wonderful photojournalist, but I worry where journalism ends and life begins.