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| David Turnley, James Nachtwey and a number of other photojournalists under fire during the 1994 elections in South Africa |
"I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated. "
These are the first words you see when you click on this link: www.jamesnachtwey.com/
These are the first words you see when you click on this link: www.jamesnachtwey.com/
The photographer James Nachtwey is truly an artist with a cause.
On the internet, you can find many James Nachtwey pictures in blogs and forums. I have noticed that people comment on his photos by saying that they feel helpless and not able to stop the situations that the pictures are portraying. This saddens me because the purpose of his work is largely misunderstood. We all can do something. The war is inside of us, the war is us. You don’t need to go to Africa to see hunger, poverty is just next door.
I think that his pictures are meant to be more than art, they are meant to be journalism. If you look at his photos and see first how the color and the lights have a good balance, but don’t feel motivated to somehow change those scenes, the purpose is lost.
Personally, after seeing his pictures, an indescribable feeling arises, something like shock followed by guilt. His pictures speak with us and transfer emotion through a visual language that everyone can understand. Seeing his portraits makes me rethink the role that I must play in this world. It steers my direction and makes me reevaluate what life is worth living for.
It motivates me but at the same time makes me feel not deserving to be called a human. While I sit worried with which clothes to wear to the next party, the people in the photographs are suffering in the most appalling ways.
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| A woman taken to an emergency feeding center in Somalia established by the Irish charity CONCERN waits for food and medical attention. Photo: James Nachtwey |
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| Bardera, Somalia, November 1992.Mother lifts up the body of her child, a famine victim, to bring it to the grave. Photo: James Nachtwey |
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| Sudan, 1993 - Famine victim in a feeding center.. Photo : James Nachtwey |
After watching a movie in class about Nachtwey’s job I observe how some of my peers feel down, but the next day they’ve already forgotten and returned to their lives. It makes me wonder that if sometimes his photos rather them making people more sensitive, they actually make people more cold and indifferent to the horrors of war.
After seeing the same pictures many times, we get used to it and this can provoke the worse result: becoming numb to the pain. We have to fight against the inertia and understand that James Nachtwey takes these pictures in order to convey the impact of the event and to allow those people portrayed to share their suffering with the world so humanity does not forget the tragedy and the same mistakes are never repeated.
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| Afghanistan, 1996 - Mourning a brother killed by a Taliban rocket. Photo: James Nachtwey |
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| Bosnia, 1993 - Mourning a soldier killed in the civil war. Photo James Nachtwey |
James Nachtwey got the TED Prize 2007 and this was his Wish :
"There's a vital story that needs to be told, and I wish forTED to help me gain access to it and then to help me come up with innovative and exciting ways to use news photography in the digital era."
Check it :
Very nice reflection here. I sometimes wonder why we are able to feel so moved, but then forget the tragedies so quickly. Out of sight, out of mind perhaps. This certainly illustrates the power - and limitations - of the visual. Photographs can open our eyes, but can they open our minds (and for how long?).
ReplyDeletePlease provide the sources of the photographs you borrowed.
ReplyDelete