Yaman Shalabi, Reflection

In a world where entertainment news and pop culture have become the craze, one journalist devoted his life and career to report on issues miles away from the safe haven of his home. Normal people often run away from danger, this journalist always found himself in the midst of it. As people watched the latest reality T.V shows and movies he was watching a mob slice a man to death with machetes. As people are keeping up with movie stars and singers, this man was trying to stay alive. War Photography is a documentary that follows the life of Journalist James Nachtwey and his journey to “put an end to human behavior which has existed throughout history by means of photography”.

Nachtwey has been able to maintain his humanity while photographing inhumane actions however having a lifestyle that surrounds opposition, hate and cruelty has had evident consequences on his personality and behavior. Reserved and withdrawn after paying witness to despicable human behavior, he hoped to capture pictures that “would be a powerful ingredient of antidote to the war”.

It’s not easy for journalists to send across a message in their work, but Nachtwey dedicated all his time and allocated all his resources to show people what they do not often see. He wanted to take them to some unimaginable place and evoke a sense of compassion to the people he pictured and resentment and bitterness to those that caused them immense pain. He loved his job and wanted to do it well. He said it may seem disgusting that people like himself profit off of people’s pains and agony but he justifies it by saying his hopes are not for the money but to reach out to the world, to tell them of the atrocities, to tell them that someone within their species can commit horrible acts so that maybe people will react positively towards what he’s presenting and help save a life. He wanted his ideas and his feelings about war, destruction, social injustice to come across in his pictures.

I believe that although we are taught to remain unbiased, fair, and balanced, a good journalist is someone who cannot do that. Part of what makes us human is that we are made up of emotions, values, beliefs, opinions, and to be someone who prevents themselves from feeling anything then you, in my opinion, start trekking down a road that will lead to making assumptions, biased remarks and finally to misrepresenting and maybe even mistreating people. A good journalist will know to focus their opinions and beliefs into constructing a piece, whether it is print, photo, audio, or video, that will convey the story and your stance.

Nachtwey is a well-renowned war photo-journalist who has won numerous awards. I think he embodies the reason people go into journalism, to help change the world, to speak out. His achievements provide motivation to upcoming journalists and ambition to continue down the path.

Although the pictures portray an infinitesimal depiction of the actual violence, his art is so provoking, so compelling, and so mind-blowing that it stirs up people’s emotions, it gets them to talk, to pay notice and compel them to make a change.