James Nachtwey, War Photographer

James Nachtwey's photographs of the horrors of war and injustice deliver powerful messages on many levels. Nachtwey's commitment to getting as close as possible to the action and different levels of emotion in a situation is stunning and poignant. His photographs are technically spectacular, even in the midst of gunfire and death. He is triumphant in taking pictures that are well balanced and have great composition, despite his lack of control in many situations and refusal to "set up" the photo. His work finds a strong voice in its honest representation of a situation. He described that "how you cover a story defines how the world sees it," and the choices he makes in being respectful to his subjects as well as getting into the heart of the scene accurately portray the essence of the situation.

Teh difficulties Nachtwey faces just being the industry of war photography in our culture poses a lot of important issues. The documentary described the "sick business" of providing intense and sometimes disturbing images for the public, because that's what we can't get enough of. Society's interests affect what pictures get published and displayed and the source of the money that supports the publication plays a large role in what is finally published. Nachtwey's emotional and intellectual devotion and dedication to his job as speaker for those who otherwise would have no words insulates him from degrading himself and his work despite this context. Despite all of the emotional stress and weight Nachtwey chooses to bare, his work is powerful and pushes the rest of the world to look and to see what is happening, and hopefully respond.