WAR PHOTOGRAPHER

The documentary "War Photographer" was in the most basic terms a very moving, compelling and insightful film into the realm and into the personal life of a war photographer. I believe every photographer with aspirations to document "real life" wonder where their careers will take them, what they will see and document, and whether they will actually be able to hold up a camera in the midst of a unimaginable situations. This film exposed many of these aspects, showing the first-hand experiences of photographer James Nachtwey in the very midst of war torn villages, slums, and battles. I found this perspective from a "camera cam" to be an insightful view of how Nachtwey himself worked, moved, captured, thought, viewed and lived in the most dreadful of situations possibly imaginable to man. Bombarded with tear gas, caught in the cross-fire, faced with misery, suffering, and even death, Nachtwey showed determination that seems impossible for one to posses.
Personally, i wondered what kind of person Nachtwey was that could even get in the personal space of intolerable pain and suffering. He enters the lives of these people because they let him, they want him to, they maybe even feel empowered being utterly human in front of the lens, as though it is giving them a voice. Nachtwey's mannerisms are gentle and understanding, and i believe that his genuine nature speak to his subjects. While he may not be weeping with them, or suffering with them, i got the feeling that his subjects could sense his compassion, allowing them to be open to him. Personally, i would feel too shy and intrusive, and heartless to want to get into the face of someone who is grieving, or shoot away while there is death and pain all around, but perhaps i simply could not handle all the emotions and drama around me.
To me, i was most drawn to Nachtwey's images of the aftermath of such wars and battles. The photographs of grieving people in such emotional agony were in a way so beautiful to me. The way that grieving people interact with others grieving is completely unique, the body language transforms, and to me it almost becomes other-worldly, even angelic. The photographs of the weeping women in Kosovo and others such as the photographs of the weeping girl all possess a sort of classical painting feel, how their bodies are positioned with each other, and how they carry themselves convey so much emotion, it is almost as though i can feel myself physically moving through the photograph. These photos containing loss and suffering were the most beautiful photographs to me while they were still incredibly emotionally compelling.
I was most astounded to watch Nachtwey work in his element. His element is war-torn villages, the most desperate slums, and the battle field. He moves and works like fluid, and what is most astounding to me on an instinctual level is how he simply has not been killed in the line of duty. Out of pure fear i find such a thing imaginable for me to do, and it made me wonder and just what kind of person Nachtwey really is, living day in and day out in the midst of death and injustice, how he keeps going, how he copes, and how he simply does not get depressed to the point of wanting to end his life. While i greatly respect and marvel at his work, i don't believe i could ever photograph in the way that he does, i could not live day in and day out with those first hand experiences of death and injustice, it would simply be too much for me to handle. I concluded that Nachtwey is simply a very different kind of person, his drive and his love is his compassion for exposing the wrongs and digging up the injustice with his camera, i believe he is equipped with this ability and an art that virtually no one else contains.