James Nachtwey and The Other

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James Nachtwey is an American photojournalist and war photographer. He has been awarded the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal five times. In 2003, he was injured by a grenade in an attack on his convoy while serving as a Time contributing correspondent in Baghdad, from which he has made a full recovery. He is by all accounts one of the greatest war photojournalists of our time, a member of The Bang Bang Club and Magnum, he has bodies of work ranging from Sudan, Kosovo and Northern Ireland to the Middle East and 9/11.

His words are always haunting, he has seen and photographed horror in its deepest and darkest form. It is miraculous he has survived both physically and mentally so far. He remembers;

“The most incomprehensible situation I’ve ever witnessed was Rwanda where we don’t really know how many people died; the estimate of half a million to a million. They were killed with very primitive weapons; clubs and rocks and machetes, face to face. And I saw some massacre sites and I just do not understand how people can do that to each other. What can inspire such fear and such hatred? This is beyond my understanding really. It’s very difficult to get over that.

…And I realised that many of the people I was photographing might have been the very ones who had committed the massacres that I had witnessed just a few weeks before. And it was like taking the express elevator to hell.”

A lot of photojournalism is knowledge, absorbing information and coming to an innate understanding of the events. This should never be achieved on the road to the event. You must think first as a journalist and second as a photographer. Journalism will always provide you with the context in what to shoot, rather than choosing the most attractive position. James is a connoisseur in this field, but was thrown when the attacks of 9/11 happened, almost dying while shooting under the WTC 2, when it fell.

Filed under: 9/11, afghanistan, america, camera, conflict photojournalist, documentary, George Bush, horror, humanitarian photojournalist, Iraq, journalism, ngo humanitarian photographer, offices, photojornalism, photojournalism, Photojournalist, politics, religion, War, warrior ethos

United Belgium Demonstration – Brussels

Belgium was a fascinating country on on three of my visits within the last year, twice on a motorbike passing through – and then purposely for a Demonstration in Brussels, November 18th 2007, for United Belgium, which was a movement against the separation of Belgium into two Northern and Southern parts with two Belgian governments and histories. 35.000 colourful protesters, coming from Wallonia, Flemish and Brussels areas came in support of Belgian survival. They were here to end a long running feud in establishing a one country democratic government.

It was a turbulent time during this with marches, anger and protest I went to document this march by buying a Ryanair flight to Brussels for cheap, staying in another horrible hotel and jumped into the crowd with my small 20D and found it a fascinating and vibrant event.

A passionate protest at the current political state.

Filed under: belgium, brussels, ethics, independence, nuj, photography, photojournalism, Photojournalist, redr uk, U.S, War, world

Our fighting force…Our Objective Journalism…Our animals of Democracy

“This is about the future of Britain,“

I woke up to the extraordinary slack minded views of our Foreign Secretary David Miliband this morning. The man that strangely looks like a boy fresh from boarding school, tie choking his jugular as he spews more useless paraphrases at the weak nation. He looks like a man that Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson forgot to make, and now strangely it has formed a life of its own and wants to save planet Earth from an imaginary foe.

Gordon Brown thought it would be prudent that this man be switched from Tony ‘Dog Toy‘ Blair’s cabinet to his, exchanging ‘Environment Minister‘ to ‘Foreign Affairs‘ Minister. What a sight he must have seen that warm morning of re-shuffle. That pesky pile of papers asking him to save planet Earth with low carbon emissions on A-Roads in the Cotswold’s and wind farms in Cumbria, to the more exciting prospect of war mongering with Iran, and tyrant slaying in North Korea. That sugar coated exterior of Milibands face should only be accepted and dismissed for a brief second. Much like the shadow cabinets William Hague who seems to be back in Politics after that short stint at ‘Have I got News for You’. Well I may have. William will be the first namesake in power to be sent to the Hague in Brussels after election day for eliminating North (possibly South as well) Korea.

It does seem like the Conservatives will win in this years General Elections, and with Hague at the forefront with Cameron, my loneliness at not being able to spite, hate and disembowel the opposing Football team will be quenched. But in the meantime we have the Class Boy, Miliband. It was actually George W.Bush who first introduced me to Politics, and as he now sits in his arm chair in quiet reflection of a global hate towards him, we Journalists need a man to hate like a cat craves the caged bird.

Miliband and Lt Col Nick Richardson of the British Armed Forces have teamed up to again sway the hardworking Nation through the BBC we must “remember 9/11 and 7/7 and ask themselves whether they thought trying to prevent this from happening would be a worthwhile cause”.

This is Mili’s style so don’t forget it. This creature who will worm and shoulder his way through gaps of Objective Journalism – the holes of none biased sludge we call a democracy. He will crawl through the trenches with soldiers limbs blow off, protesting that once this is over Britain will be more free. Again the boring tide of none biased reporting continues to un-impress like a Giraffe eating, as the BBC asks members of Stop The War Coalition for their views. Whatever they are. It doesn’t matter. As I witnessed at a Stop The War march in Westminster a year ago, the general population doesn’t have a relationship with them- it sees them as modern day hippies probably banging on about the Vietnam war still. This is the hell we call Objective Journalism – where the none biased is Right and everyone else are hippies.

As for preventing another 9/11 or 7/7 or any other date in the British calender again we must look at cold facts such as the reasons behind attacks, motives and countries of origin.

You will find again and again, big black holes of bad information linking to Afghanistan for both events. But as Miliband bangs his head repeatedly against the door of democracy (or dictatorship I’m unsure) like some crazed beast trying to make his point heard – we must turn to these cretins we have in our Foreign Office and pull them apart, dis-associate with them, question them, harass them.

We know that Politicians are not whiter than white, why do we think so with global war? The answer lies in that horrible grey area of Objective Journalism they spew through – dressed like penguins dancing to us while him flicking between Top Gear and The Jeremy Kyle show. Dancing and singing about how far flung wars help bridge gaps between us and the rotten relationships we have with Arabic Muslims.

Until that is addressed we are all DOOMED.

stephensidlo.com

Filed under: 9/11, afghanistan, blair, earth, Foreign Secretary, gordon brown, hague, hippies, korea, miliband, objective journalism, politics, thunderbirds, War