actually, above the woman is a falling piece of scaffolding and they’re both running to try and save her. So you have four different elements there, that all mean different things in different contexts. What I’m trying to do is get across my point of view. I’m not a surveillance camera, I’m determined to get across some sort of meaning and I don’t want to misrepresent what I’m seeing and experiencing. That’s not good for the understanding, or for myself. I make an effort to be responsible in what I’m doing and I approach everything with an open mind.
YOU’VE NAMED THE JOURNAL YOU EDIT ‘DISPATCHES’ [WWW. RETHINK-DISPATCHES.COM]. IN MICHAEL HERR’S BOOKS OF THE SAME NAME, THERE’S AN EPISODE WHERE THE PHOTOGRAPHER LARRY BURROWS IS TAKING PHOTOS OF DEAD BODIES BEING PUT INTO BODY BAGS TO BE TAKEN AWAY IN HELICOPTERS. HE TURNS TO HERR AND SAYS “SOMETIMES ONE FEELS LIKE SUCH A BASTARD”. HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE THAT? Frequently. But it’s kind of tempered. You know, I don’t buy into all that bullshit of the ‘journalist as hero’, trying to do the right thing. Photography in a war is chaotic. You’re working instinctively. After you leave the battle, then you make the decision what to publish. I sometimes photograph things that won’t necessarily get published – things that are uncomfortable – but the bottom line is that the media is there to bring pressure to bear. The work I’m doing is unlikely to help the person I’m photographing in the next 24 hours, or perhaps even the next few weeks or maybe even at all. But if I can make some
small difference, maybe as part of some concentrated media effort and maybe prick the intellectual consciences of my audience… If there’s a sense of outrage and anger, then those feelings get tempered.
HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU’VE HAD TO DEFEND YOURSELF OR FOUND YOURSELF UNWITTINGLY DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN A CONFLICT? No. I haven’t. I can’t imagine a circumstance where I’d pick up a gun. If you really need a gun, guns are easy to find in a war zone, but I’d have to feel that there was no alternative to save my life. If you’re in that situation, you with a gun make no real difference and I wouldn’t get into scenes like that anyway - it doesn’t really happen very often.
THE DIFFICULTLY IN PHOTOGRAPHY CAN BE CAPTURING THAT ‘DECISIVE MOMENT’. HOW DO YOU MANAGE IT IN SUCH A CHAOTIC ENVIRONMENT? It becomes instinctive. It’s difficult to translate into words. After so many years you get used to moving around in those kind of environments and I try and convey what I’m experiencing. I can feel abnormally comfortable, even though I might be terrified. You get used to suppressing your own response - you can’t work as efficiently or as well if you get caught up in your emotions.
WHEN BEING CONSIDERED TO BECOME A MAGNUM [magnumphotos.com] P H O T O G R A P H E R , PHOTOGRAPHERS USED TO BE ASKED NOT FOR THEIR
WHO?
PHOTOJOURNALISTS WHO’VE GIVEN AN INTELLIGENT, ENGAGED REPORTAGE AND INTERPRETATION OF EVENTS: HENRI CARTIER -BRESSON Inventor of the Decisive Moment www.magnumphotos.com
ROBERT CAPA
Provided the world with iconic images of the D-Day landings www.magnumphotos.com
EDDIE ADAMS
Photojournalist in Vietnam, famous for his picture of General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a prisoner http:// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_ pictures/3672428.stm
TIM PAGE
Gary Knight’s inspiration and established war photographer http://timpageimage.com.au/
DON McCULLIN
Famous for his hard-hitting Vietnamese and Northern Ireland photo correspondence http://www.vam. ac.uk/vastatic/ microsites/photography/ photographerframe. php?photographerid=ph041
LARRY BURROWS
Provided extremely vivid shots of the Vietnam war http://digitaljournalist.org/ issue0302/lb_index.html
GILLESS PERESS
Documents the resurgence of nationalism in Europe www.magnumphotos.com
STUART FRANKLIN
Photographer in Gaza, member of Magnum group www.magnumphotos.com
SEE GARY’S WORK AT WWW.VIIPHOTO.COM
THE UL AND SAINSBURYS COMPLAINING ABOUT THEIR SUNDAY OPENING HOURS, KEEP A
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