"The shot that nearly killed me: War photographers – a special report"

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<p><em>"Attacked by a Haitian mob, kidnapped by Gaddafi's troops, shot in Afghanistan… Who'd be a war photographer?"</em></p>

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<p>http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/18/war-photographers-special-report</p>

<p><em>Who'd be a war photographer ?</em><br /> Me, certainly not. I'll rather be a soldier or medic in cases he is reporting on, for sure.<br /> <br /> However, the text under the first photo in the article you link up to, Ellis, made me reflect:</p>

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<p>'As a photographer, you feel helpless. Around you are medics, security personnel, people doing good work. It can be agonisingly painful to think that all you're doing is taking pictures."</p>

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<p>Aren't there moments where even a professional war photographer puts his cameras aside and starts helping the people in need around him ? Going on shooting photos does not in my eyes make a hero out of him - at best, a professional photographer on mission.</p>

<p>What difference would yet another grand photo make to the wounded and distressed people around him and even less to other people running through the news of the day, drinking their morning coffee?</p>

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<p><em>Aren't there moments where even a professional war photographer puts his cameras aside and starts helping the people in need around him ?</em></p>

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<p>Of course there are. There are numerous examples of this.</p>

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<p><em>Me, certainly not. I'll rather be a soldier or medic in cases he is reporting on, for sure.</em></p>

 

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<p>Have you considered volunteering? O r is this just a moralistic rant from a sofa bound critic?</p>

<p>On the other hand, the job of the war photographer may be to record the mayhem for the viewer, for their private reflections, and to hopefully foster public reaction. But war photography may not have the impact it once had since we now have all these videos of atrocities, burning villages and cities and people... I still prefer a still photograph for this sort of reflection. Maybe the frozen silence of an image helps us to slow down... better enables us to consider...</p>

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<p>Have you considered volunteering? O r is this just a moralistic rant from a sofa bound critic?</p>

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<p>Ellis, It is not of my habits of ranting, sitting in my sofa or walking around.<br>

I'm out of age for volunteering as soldier, but have done my years long contributions to the armed forces. Thanks, Ellis, for the kind concern.</p>

<p>I was struck by Joao Silva's photos taken after being blown up. I was thinking this was a true mark of 'addiction', then I realized yes I would have done the same. Assuming I'd been walking over land mines in a war zone, carrying a camera (a big assumption). When you're in a situation for which no amount of training or preparation can prepare you, I think you tend to revert to the familiar, the comforting, as a way of making sense of the situation. Even if your response seems patently absurd to an observer, it made sense to you because it was what you knew, what brought you comfort. On second thought, if I'd been Joao, I would have asked for a bowl of ice cream instead.</p>

<p>Beside all been saying about it, I know that war photographers loose their laugh for good ... think a million time before ...

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