Steve McCurry
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| Photo by - Unknown Image Source - http://www.curiousanimal.com/steve-mccurry-interview/ |
Steve McCurry is an extremely
well known and successful photographer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. McCurry
broke into the photojournalism scene after numerous trips to India, and his
shot of the “afghan girl” made photography headlines in 1984 and made the front
cover of National Geographic.
Steve McCurry talks to a reporter about whether the photographs he takes are worth risking his life for. McCurry has traveled to a great number of places in the world to document events and situations, and is said to have encountered a number of dangerous situations along the way. He claims that he has been shot at, mortared, robbed, beaten up, arrested, and nearly drowned during his assignments around the world. One would ask if these happenings were worth it to get the shots that he did, and reporter Graeme Green did exactly that for news website Curiousanimal.com. McCurry states that “You only live once, so you want to have a taste of all the different facets of the planet we live on.”, and this can be seen as his main motivation for traveling to document so many events in so many countries around the world. When asking if a photo is worth risking your life for, McCurry replies with “It’s always a calculated risk. If you’re careful and you work with good people and you understand the situation, you hope for the best. I think the answer is ‘Yes’, but you have to work in an intelligent way. There are different people and we have different motivations.”
Steve McCurry talks to a reporter about whether the photographs he takes are worth risking his life for. McCurry has traveled to a great number of places in the world to document events and situations, and is said to have encountered a number of dangerous situations along the way. He claims that he has been shot at, mortared, robbed, beaten up, arrested, and nearly drowned during his assignments around the world. One would ask if these happenings were worth it to get the shots that he did, and reporter Graeme Green did exactly that for news website Curiousanimal.com. McCurry states that “You only live once, so you want to have a taste of all the different facets of the planet we live on.”, and this can be seen as his main motivation for traveling to document so many events in so many countries around the world. When asking if a photo is worth risking your life for, McCurry replies with “It’s always a calculated risk. If you’re careful and you work with good people and you understand the situation, you hope for the best. I think the answer is ‘Yes’, but you have to work in an intelligent way. There are different people and we have different motivations.”
This is a similar question to that asked by Photojournalist Gilles Peress. He used to ask his students "are you willing to die for photograph". McCurry's answer may have been different if it was asked by Peress, as he believed that he would only take calculated risks.
Steve’s motivation for documenting the world and different cultures is so strong that he is willing to put himself in harms way in order to get that perfect shot, but he believes that the risk is always calculated and that as long as you are careful, the odds are in your favor. There are photojournalists, who are purely in the industry to complete assignments and make money, but McCurry is genuinely interested in learning about other cultures and his passion is traveling to other countries to expand his knowledge about the world.
Steve’s motivation for documenting the world and different cultures is so strong that he is willing to put himself in harms way in order to get that perfect shot, but he believes that the risk is always calculated and that as long as you are careful, the odds are in your favor. There are photojournalists, who are purely in the industry to complete assignments and make money, but McCurry is genuinely interested in learning about other cultures and his passion is traveling to other countries to expand his knowledge about the world.
Tim Hetherington
Tim Hetherington was a British
photojournalist and was best known for his documentary “Restrepo” covering the
war in Afghanistan, which won the grand jury prize at the SunDance film
festival in 2010.
Hetherington was killed in 2011
after being hit by shrapnel from a mortar blast, while documenting on the front
line of Libya’s civil war.
Tim’s mission was to “capture the images he thought could help him and hopefully the world - understand the humanity in war” “according to longtime friend and war zone colleague Sebastian Junger.”Stacey Pearsall shared a similar view when capturing war by saying in her Verterans portrait project video "I tried to show or convey my emotions through my pictures too".
Tim’s mission was to “capture the images he thought could help him and hopefully the world - understand the humanity in war” “according to longtime friend and war zone colleague Sebastian Junger.”Stacey Pearsall shared a similar view when capturing war by saying in her Verterans portrait project video "I tried to show or convey my emotions through my pictures too".
I think this is what Tim did also as you can see by his photographs, he tries to capture moments that he felt needed attention.
Unfortunately, covering war holds its dangers, and Hetherington went to all lengths to see and show the world what war is like behind the scenes. Tim had extreme motivation to work on the front line and capture the truth about war, the good and the bad. Sebastian Junger also said that one of Tim’s main motivations was to “bring light to the humanitarian suffering that accompanies war.”
A lot of what Tim did, and covered, was not for his own satisfaction or enjoyment, but to open other people’s eyes to the truth and help those in suffering. This makes it so much harder to hear about his death, knowing that he lost his life while trying to help others.
Unfortunately, covering war holds its dangers, and Hetherington went to all lengths to see and show the world what war is like behind the scenes. Tim had extreme motivation to work on the front line and capture the truth about war, the good and the bad. Sebastian Junger also said that one of Tim’s main motivations was to “bring light to the humanitarian suffering that accompanies war.”
A lot of what Tim did, and covered, was not for his own satisfaction or enjoyment, but to open other people’s eyes to the truth and help those in suffering. This makes it so much harder to hear about his death, knowing that he lost his life while trying to help others.
I have a very strong interest in war documentaries, and I am surprised
that I haven’t heard of Tim Hetherington before looking him up for this module.
His story is very emotional and I urge everyone reading this to take the time
to watch ‘Restrepo’ - his award winning documentary, and also the documentary about his life made by
his friend Sebastian Junger – called “Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington” .
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| Photo by - Tim Hetherington Image Source - http://potd.pdnonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Hetherington-1-Boy-Untitled-Liberia-2003.jpg |
Don McCullin
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| Photo by - Unknown Image Source - http://cdnfnd.filmsnotdead.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/don-mccullin.jpg |
Don McCullin is another British photojournalism who also specialized in
documenting war. It is said that McCullin was Britain’s most famous war
photographer, but he does not like that label as he says “Whatever I do, I have this name as a war photographer. I reject the term. It's reductive. I can't be written off just as a war photographer." This leads you to think that he
feels as though he is able to photograph a lot more than war, but his earlier
words tend to suggest otherwise. McCullin said that he has seen too much in his
lifetime, and it has left its mark on him. This makes it sound like McCullin
does not like to be labelled a ‘war photographer’ because it brings back bad
memories, and who can blame him.
McCullin worked as an overseas correspondent for the Sunday Times Magazine, and
covered war zones, along with other catastrophes. There is not much to suggest
that Don had much motivation other than to complete assignments and get paid
for his work, but its obvious he had a passion for what he did and was
dedicated to his job.
By looking at his images and the captions given, it shows that McCullin felt
like he had a job as a photojournalist to show the world what is really
happening in these terrible situations. In one photograph he says “The man being led away here is a government official, the guerrillas were taking him away to be shot or to be imprisoned. It was a solemn moment, but it was beyond my control. I try to keep being a decent kind of person. I know I’m stealing images, but I look at my conscience. I shouldn’t get on an aeroplane [and go to a war zone] if I don’t feel right about it, but when I do go, I go quietly and respectfully, my own way.”
On another photograph he says “I meant this picture to show how life went on in the villages. Despite the constant, intolerable fear the civilian slived under, people muddled through.”
This shows that was always trying to capture the truth of the situation in order to show the rest of the world more than what the media allows them to see.
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| Photo by - Don McCullin Image Source - http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2010/2/4/1265294744544/Shellshocked-soldier-001.jpg |
My Motivation Map
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| Photo by -James Worrall |
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