Movie on war photographer Dickey Chapelle

[nzdavid]

I saw a fascinating doco on the History channel about an upcoming movie on war photographer Dickey

Chapelle, who covered WWII and Vietnam, where she was killed in action. A very gutsy lady, with strong

opinions, who defied contemporary rules and regulations by wading into the thick of battle alongside

Marines armed only with her trusty Leica cameras -- judging by the movie, a III of some variety and an

M3.

 

The movie stars Jennifer Aniston and was produced by Brad Pitt (made a while ago?); I don't have any

more details. Maybe someone knows more, but worth checking out. For more on Dickey Chapelle, see

http://www.photobetty.com/dickey_chapelle/15.htm/ and www.wisconsinhistory.org.

 

Cheers,

David

[ellis_vener_photography]

Nani Griffiffith wrotea song about Dickie Chappelle. It's titled"peal's Eye View"

 

She is also featured in the book "Requiem"

[waltz]

Thanks for the info, David. A very interesting story.<br>

 

At least in Firefox, the link above works better without the trailing slash:<br>

<a href=http://www.photobetty.com/dickey_chapelle/15.htm>http://www.photobetty.com/dickey_chapelle/15.htm</a>

[eric_hurtado]

His pictures have no interest....she died in Vietnam with the marines..So what?

[stephen_w.]

What have YOU done with your "life"?

[eric_hurtado]

Much ado about nothing....she is a mediocre photographer and a good U.S patriot and a

Woman! in this macho war photographers world!... this is sufficient for building a new one

million $ dime store hollywood legend.

[m_.]

>>His pictures have no interest....she died in Vietnam with the marines..So what?

 

that's at least 10 times braver than you. all you do is whining in front of a computer screen, so far i can see.

 

>>The movie stars Jennifer Aniston and was produced by Brad Pitt (made a while ago?);

 

no judgment against dickey, but that's enough to know how well the movie is made.

[liam__]

You have no idea what you're talking about.

[eric_hurtado]

Dear mister M,(no name ?),

I consider your words: "that's at least 10 times braver than you. all you do is whining in

front of a computer screen, so far i can see.'" as a personal attack.

 

You don't know me,my life, and so on...how can you speak like that?

I don't pass my time in front of a comptuter screen, I'm an artist, a professional

photographer and a filmaker, my films beeing broadcasted in all Europe, and buyed by

museums like Center Pompidou in Paris.

It's my right to not appreciate the work and the life of this Miss Chapelle.

I don't know you , but i'm sure that you are a little person.

[jtdnyc]

No personal attack intended, Eric, but I am surprised that anyone who describes himself as an artist should be unable to see the dramatic potential in the life and death of a woman who served as a combat photographer.

 

"...she died in Vietnam with the marines..So what?" So that makes her a fascinating subject for a biopic, no matter how you may personally feel about American involvement in Vietnam.

 

I detect that English may not be your first language. You may want to take account of the fact that "So what?" means more than the words denote. It's a dismissive phrase in English, bordering on being rude, almost hostile. It's not a phrase that I would ever use about a photographer killed in action, regardless of gender, nationality or politics.

 

I suspect that I might not share the political views of Pitt and Aniston, but I'm prepared to recognize that they are both very talented actors, and I look forward to seeing the movie.

[rj]

I think Catherine Leroy is a better war photographer than Dickey Chapelle, at least I like her shots better. By the time Dickey Chapelle died in Vietnam she covered 4 wars, was a certified paratrooper and was imprisoned for more than 50 days by the communists. She had a very interesting life and died doing something she loved doing.

 

I don't like this idea that just because she was a woman she was doing something incredible by being and dying as a war photographer, there were unfortunately quite a few dedicated war photographers who died during the Vietnam war. She is not special because she is a woman, but rather because of the whole package and her attitude.

 

I would like to see that documentary, I don't have very much faith that the movie will be very good. Mainstream Hollywood can't seem to make a good film lately to save their lives.

[fred_obturateur]

A better idea than some Brad-Pitt-produced and ex-Mrs-Pitt-poor-actress played project : a movie about the NVA photographers (that is the ENEMY). These people were both combat correspondants AND soldiers. Gear-wise they worked hardly anything and yet they documented their side of the war. "Requiem" tells the life (and quite often the death) of these forgotten men. PS : Dickey Chapelle was rumored to be quite right-wing in her political beliefs. Hadn't she died in '65 she could have played a cameo in John Wayne's 1967 "Green Berets". Too bad...

[fred_obturateur]

"The movie stars Jennifer Aniston [might be] produced by Brad Pitt".

 

 

Certainly a strong contender for the 2008 Razzies awards...

[ellis_vener_photography]

memo to Eric Hurtado:

 

Keep your head up your ass: it is obviously scenery you enjoy and it is the one place where

you'll find a ruler short enough to measure your manhood with. .

 

Dickey Chappelle's photos of US troops engaged in combat were the first ones that put the lie

to the goverment propaganda that US troops were only "advisors" to the South Vietnames

earmy. They were published first, in of all places, National Geographic Magazine.

[ellis_vener_photography]

"PS : Dickey Chapelle was rumored to be quite right-wing in her political beliefs."

 

Big Fuucking Deal.

[gerrymorgan]

The photos on the web site David pointed us to are not that interesting (to me, at least), but I noticed that the web site points out that "a vast majority of what she photographed and reported on in the last years of her life was deemed too sensitive to be printed". Does anyone know if there are any of her photos published elsewhere that we could see?

 

Ellis, your ad hominem remarks against Eric are shameful. Eric finds Dickey Chapelle's photos artistically uninteresting. That is no reason for a personal attack against him.

[gerrymorgan]

To my eye, some of <a href="http://www.temple.edu/photo/photographers/DickeyChapelle/work_gallery/index.htm">these photos</a> look more interesting.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Dear mr. Morgan,

 

Despite your attempts at inflicting shame upon me, I feel no guilt for having voiced my

opinion in this matter, and no I won't apologize. Based solely on what Eric Hurtado wrote i n

this very thread, my further view is that his opinons, are the macho, sexist, provencial and

under informed products of an under-educated mind. He may be a fine out standing

member of the human race in person but here he comes off as a boorish lout.

[elmarfudd]

The photos certainly have interesting content. (At least those from the Temple site). It never ceases to amaze me how such a benign thread can spiral into name calling so quickly. Now all we need is for someone to suggest she was a "Leica Photographer" ;- )

[gerrymorgan]

The wisconsinhistory.org site that David pointed us to in his original post also has some interesting photos (for convenience, specifically <a href="http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/results.asp?keyword1=chapelle&search_field1=creator&search_type=advanced&sort_by=date&boolean_type1=and&boolean_type2=and">this page</a> is a good starting point). I wonder if her unpublished material will ever see the light of day.

[nzdavid]

Well, yes James, exactly. To me, the politics of the Vietnam War -- or any other war -- are

not the issue here. And yes, I nearly wrote "Leica photographer". Have a good look at some

of those pics and judge for yourself. (Thanks for posting them as clickable links -- not

quite sure how to do that.) I reckon some of them really capture moments of life under

extreme pressure few of us would be willing to tolerate.

[fred_obturateur]

"PS : Dickey Chapelle was rumored to be quite right-wing in her political beliefs.

Big Fuucking Deal."

Waht I meant is D.Chapelle was probably one of the only 'Nam photographers who was pro-war (the "get those Red Gooks outta the coutry" pose) and she was one the 1st to die there. Get the irony?

[ellis_vener_photography]

Youhave towonder if her views might have changed if shehad lived longer andsee nwhat the

Vietnam war turned into. Anti-Communist doesn't have to automatically mean "right wing".

I'm anti-communist ( ingenral I'm anti-totalitarian) and I consider myself a liberal and there

are lots of other liberals who think that way too.