Oct 28 2008
The War Photographer - review
The War Photographer is a 2001 documentary on the work of war photographer James Nachtwey. Mr. Nachtwey has been a war photographer for over twenty years and this film demonstrates his dedication and compassion and the empathy with which he treats the people that he photographs. Mr. Nachtwey spent time in Vietnam, Rwanda, South Africa and Bosnia.
I was very much surprised by some of the scenes in this film. Mr. Nachtwey had attached miniature cameras to his own cameras so that we could get the same exact view that he was getting and I was really shocked at how close he actually got to the subject matter that he was photographing. Oftentimes, Mr. Nachtwey (and his crew) were put in physical danger - they followed a man being chased and beaten by a mob, just to capture pictures. In the Middle East, Mr. Nachtwey found himself in the center of the group that was being bombed with tear gas and smoke bombs.
What I loved about this documentary is that it captured the poignancy of being a photographer in this sort of situation - how physically, mentally and emotionally dangerous it can be, but it also shows the poverty, suffering, violence and brutality that photographers see everyday. It shows the toll that takes on the photographer - it must be hard to see such continual depression .
The style of the documentary is very jarring - sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of what is going on because the cameras are moving so much. It also fails to explain to explain what motivates this photographer to do what he does - to put himself in the position that he puts himself in to get the pictures that he does.
