Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer Killed in Afghanistan

[gulfbeach47]

<p>Award-winning photographer Anja Niedringhaus died instantly during gun attack by Afghan police commander. Writer Kathy Gannon was shot twice and is in stable condition. <br /><br />Link to some of her photos> http://abcnews.go.com/International/photos/pulitzer-prize-winning-photographer-dies-afghanistan-23193049/image-23193098<br /><br />ABC video and story- http://abcnews.go.com/International/female-journalists-attacked-afghanistan-killed/story?id=23187022</p>

[h._p.]

<p>If you choose to go to places like that, you have to expect unpleasantness. It's the people who cannot escape the violence for whom I have sympathy.</p>

[William Kahn]

<p>True, H.P. But, if it weren't for those who go there and report, we'd never know about those who have no choice.</p>

[machts gut]

<p>In 2011 I heard a radio interview with Anja Niedringhaus on Deutschlandradio (german radio station) from which I had the impression she was very aware of the danger and far from trying to be a wreckless hero. She said about her work, that she was more interessted in how ordinary people in war zones manage to survive and not in bang-bang photos (I think that's what they called them). I remember her also being full of humour and life. She told a story about herself, that her agency wanted to do her a favour and offered her a break from war photography. She was sent to a large athletics event (can't remember which one) to photograph. She wasn't aware that at the opening there should be a fire work. When the first rockets burst, she told, she threw herself immidiately on the ground behind a barriere. Her fellow photographers broke out in laughter.<br>

<br />I was very touched when I read about her death.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>John, I probably wouldn't have seen 15 of her fine photographs without your link. Her courage and that of Ms. Gannon certainly matched those of the innocent bystanders caught up in this war. Her photos of ordinary people will serve as a reminder of what really needs protecting in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries and will be an enduring memory of her work. Thanks for posting. </p>

[michaellinder]

<p>H.P. - - Don't you think that your comments are a bit calloused? To me, they are tantamount to saying that Niedringhaus was just collateral damage.<br>

<br>

Granted, going into a war zone entails risk, and a photographer of the caliber of Niedringhaus obviously entered the area willingly, aware of the risk. In my opinion, the images John supplied via the link show that she didn't go to Afghanistan just for the money. They are exceptionally sensitive aside from being quite realistic, and I have no doubt that she shot them in order to awaken the rest of the world. <br>

</p>

[peteraitch]

<p>I am somewhat surprised at the few responses this thread seems to be generating. Admittedly, the tragic end result is not entirely unexpected, but photo-reportage - whether in a war zone or not - is one of the few arenas where photography can really make a difference to our perceptions of world events.</p>

<p>I too was touched to learn of Anja Niedringhaus' death and am in awe of her courage and personal commitment. Her visual legacy is far more eloquent than I could ever be.</p>

<p> </p>

[Landrum Kelly]

<blockquote>

<p>If you choose to go to places like that, you have to expect unpleasantness. It's the people who cannot escape the violence for whom I have sympathy.</p>

</blockquote>

<p><em>Ergo</em>, those who can escape get no sympathy? If that is what you mean, I can only express disbelief at such insensitivity. Have you never held a camera and lens in a potentially threatening situation? Doing some kinds of photography is going to entail certain risks, but I am glad that some people are willing to take those risks--and I am not talking only of those who go into war zones.</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>

[laur1]

<p>This conversation is reminding me of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105695/">Unforgiven</a>:</p>

<blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941316/?ref_=tt_trv_qu">The Schofield Kid</a>: Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.<br>

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000142/?ref_=tt_trv_qu">Will Munny</a>: We all got it coming, kid.</p>

</blockquote>

 

[jodys]

<p>War zone reporters and photographers (the non-'embedded' sort, not the propagandists) are public servants of the highest order. I salute her for her courage and her service to humanity. And, she was truly a great photographer.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<blockquote>

<p><em>"If you choose to go to places like that, you have to expect unpleasantness."</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>From my understanding, Anja Niedringhaus was an AP photographer sent on various assignments thus making her not exclusively a war photographer; she also covered the Beijing Olympics among other events. <br>

<br>

I'm sure AP takes security seriously and will arrange every possible safeguard to protect their people. The fact that she was gunned down by an Afghan policeman was unexpected and unforeseeable - like the Fort Hood shooting, it could have happened to anyone. <br /></p>

[joe_willmore]

<p>HP, your response is callous and also misinformed.<br>

1. Anja was killed by a policeman. Imagine if you pulled over at a traffic light and the cop on a bike next to you pulled out his handgun and shot you through the driver's side window? It's one thing to expect danger. When Bob Capa went ashore on D-Day, he had no illusions that he was risking his life. But Anja Niedringhaus was supposedly in a secure convoy in a civilian vehicle that posed no threat to anyone.<br>

2. Of course she expected unpleasantness. When people go to cover famine or a mudslide or a bridge collapse, you're confronted by death and human pain. See enough of it and you suffer PTSD. That's true whether you cover conflicts or human tragedies. But that doesn't mean you expect to die. The point here is not that there's a shock that a photojournalist died in Afghanistan, but that a courageous and talented shooter is gone.<br>

3. Any photojournalist who dies doing their work, be it Anja Niedringhaus or Remi Ochlik or Chris Hondros, is taking risks so that we may have a better idea of what is going on. How well do we know what is going on in Syria right now? Not as well as we could...and that's b/c the regime has intentionally targeted journalists and sought to kill them. <br>

4. If it had been an Afghan photojournalist we should grieve but b/c it's only a Westerner we shouldn't?</p>

[laur1]

<blockquote>

<p>But that doesn't mean you expect to die.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Of course you should expect to die when you go to a place that is described as "volatile". You'd be naive not to. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/middleeast/06baghdad.html">You might even get shot by your side</a>. Presuming that someone that died didn't think of the risks they were assuming doesn't do their memory any service because it denies any courage - courage implies the understanding and acceptance of risks - without that you're just a victim.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Any photojournalist who dies doing their work, be it Anja Niedringhaus or Remi Ochlik or Chris Hondros, is taking risks so that we may have a better idea of what is going on.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This is unintentionally funny:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Any photojournalist who dies ... is taking risks so that we may have a better idea of what is going on.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And do we have a better idea? Was it worth it? These are rhetoric questions, but if she were my family, that's what I would ask myself. And I'd actually feel comfort knowing that she was there by choice, because I'd trust her to have been aware of the dangers involved and, yes, also be aware that she might die.</p>

<p>The way I read H.P. comments is that there is less tragedy when someone dies doing what they wanted than when they had no other choice. Sure, death in the end always represents the ultimate "running out of choices", but there are degrees of how you get there.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Every innocent death is tragic and as unjust as every innocent rape. </p>

<p>The discussion on the degree of tragedy should really be redirected toward the cowardly act of the perpetrator. </p>

[joe_willmore]

<p>Laurentiu, you are confusing "expecting to die" with "understanding that death is a possibility." If someone has to walk through a dangerous part of town b/c their bus didn't arrive and they are then raped or killed, does that allow us to go "well, they should expect to be raped or killed b/c they went through a dangerous part of town"? Of course not. To be aware of danger, to take precautions, does not mean that you expect to be killed.<br>

As for your comment about "unintentionally funny"...I think I know what you're trying to say but you chose a terrible example to try and make your point. Anja Niedringhaus won a Pulitizer Prize for her photojournalism work. That means she was specifically recognized for the power of her work. Additionally she worked for AP. AP goes places that most media simply don't have the resources to go to (irrelevant if there's danger). The Washington Post or the LA Times no longer have pools of 30-40 photographers they can send out around the world. So the AP is the organization that has the resources to get coverage at all sorts of event that end up in your newspaper or media outlet. I'm not trying to deify the AP, only to point out that in a world where newspapers and media have fewer resources to spread around the globe, the AP is invaluable.<br>

I get your argument about "choice" but that still misses the point here I'm afraid. This is not a case of she ventured in to a minefield to get a great shot, knowing that she was taking a risk. She chose to get in a civilian car in a convoy with security and was killed in what should not have been a risky situation. It's like saying that if you chose to go to the hospital to deal with a bad cut and while you were there you accidentally (and through no fault of your own) contracted a fatal case of MRSA and died, then your death is somehow not (or less) tragic b/c you chose to go to the hospital.<br>

Here's a portfolio of some of her work from Afghanistan back in 2013: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/11/afghanistan-seen-through-the-lens-of-anja-niedringhaus/100621/</p>

[laur1]

<p>Joe, there are only two meaningful things that can be done after the death of any person:</p>

<ol>

<li>celebrate the life of that person and their work.</li>

<li>try to prevent the incident that caused their death, if there is a feasible way to prevent it.</li>

</ol>

<p>What you were arguing about H.P.'s statement and now about my reply is at most relevant to the second part. And the sad thing is that there is no big lesson to learn here. You seem to think that driving in a civilian car in Afghanistan is something that is supposed to be safe, but that is just naive. I don't know about you, but I don't have to have been to Afghanistan to know that that is not a safe place regardless of whether I'd be surrounded by armed soldiers - it's not safe for them, to begin with. Sure, you don't expect to die in each moment, but that was not what I meant and what I thought you also meant by that "expect to die" expression - all I meant is that if you decide to go to Afghanistan in what is considered a "volatile" area (see the linked article: <em><strong>The attack took place in Khost province, one of the most volatile regions in the country</strong></em>), you'd better have thought of the risks of that decision.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Here's a portfolio of some of her work from Afghanistan back in 2013: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/11/afghanistan-seen-through-the-lens-of-anja-niedringhaus/100621/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">(link)</a></p>

</blockquote>

<p>There you go. That falls under (1). Let's focus on that.</p>

[h._p.]

<blockquote>

<p>The way I read H.P. comments is that there is less tragedy when someone dies doing what they wanted than when they had no other choice. Sure, death in the end always represents the ultimate "running out of choices", but there are degrees of how you get there.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That was exactly my meaning, though I feel it's a bit sad that someone has to explain it.</p>