Tim Hetherington
The photographer, Tim Hetherington, (b. in Liverpool) was killed in Libya. Another photographer Chris Hondros, who has also done work for a number of major Western publications, also died. The tragic news was first posted on Facebook by their colleague, Andre Liohm.
Hetherington, who started his career in West Africa (mainly in Liberia and Sierra Leone) was featured on this blog when photojournalist Glenna Gordon talked to us about her 5 favorite photographers. At the time she described him as an “ideas guy.” (Another of those featured in Glenna’s interview, Lynsey Adario, was briefly held hostage by pro-Gaddafi forces, before she was released last month).
The photo above is from Hetherington’s series “Blindsided” about blind people in Sierra Leone. You can see Hetherington talk about his work here and here (as part of a larger panel). Below is a video, for Human Rights Watch, where Hetherington talks about Liberia and his work there:
There’s also this experimental short film–which “expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting”–Hetherington made about his work in 2010:
Two weeks ago, I boarded a plane in Monrovia and flew back to New York via Atlanta. I arrived in Atlanta in an exhausted daze. The work I’d be doing for the past couple of weeks was physically and emotionally exhausting, and while transitioning between the USA and Africa is never, ever easy, this time it felt especially hard. As I walked around the Atlanta airport, I saw people from my photos, Ivorian refugees superimposed on the friendly Americans buying a coffee at Seattle’s Best, standing among piles of identical and immaculate brightly colored Lacoste shirts.
I thought of Tim Hetherington’s personal video diary.
Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo.
He chronicles the difficult transition with disquieting grace and salience.
I often thought about his work while I was working. There are few people who I admired as much, whose way of doing journalism made so much sense to me, whose focus on individuals and on ideas translated visually with such poignancy and meaning. I was lucky enough to meet him in Liberia in early 2009 and interview him for a blog post. He recommended me for a couple of great assignments. While I was happy to have the work, I was even more pleased that someone whose work I admired so much had remembered me and recommended me.
I had a copy of Long Story Bit by Bit at my apartment in Monrovia. I showed it to friends and acquaintances often. When I left Liberia last October, I left it, along with a couple of other photo books, at a new art school.
When I visited in February, I flipped through the book while I was at the art school. The spine was creased and the pages showed signs of being handled. I was glad to see that – to see the students had been looking at this amazing book, and looking often.
The students loved some of the gorier photos, but not just those. We spent awhile talking about his still life of an orange, how that could tell part of the story too. And I remembered, again, what a masterful storyteller and journalist he was.
There was a drawing posted on the wall by one of the students, based on one of Hetherington’s photos. I intended to email this image to Tim, but hadn’t yet gotten around to it.
Tim Hetherington died today in Libya. To say that he will be missed is an understatement. He was a visual pioneer, a dedicated story teller, and someone I deeply, deeply respected.
>via: http://www.scarlettlion.com/2011/04/tim-hetherington-died-in-an-rpg-attack-in...
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TIME tribute to Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, photojournalists killed today in Libya
Ben Cosgrove of LIFE says,
In light of today's shattering news about Tim Hetherington and our colleague, Getty photographer Chris Hondros, we did the only thing we could to keep from going crazy with anger and sadness: we built galleries of their work -- including the genuinely frightening pictures that Chris made today in Misrata, Libya, shortly before he was so badly injured (above, and below).Both of these guys were absolutely first-rate, fearless journalists. This is Tim's haunting last tweet, before he was killed:
"In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."
Getty has since confirmed that Chris Hondros also died from his wounds.
British journalist Tim Hetherington dies in Libya
Mr Hetherington was best known for his work in Afghanistan
An award-winning British photographer has been killed while covering the conflict in the Libyan city of Misrata.
Liverpool-born Tim Hetherington, 40, is said to have been killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack. His family said he would be "forever missed".
US photographer Chris Hondros, 41, was also killed, and two others, including Briton Guy Martin, were injured.
Mr Hetherington, who co-directed Oscar-nominated war documentary Restrepo, was working for Vanity Fair magazine.
In a statement on the magazine's website, his family said: "It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer and filmmaker, Tim Hetherington was killed in Misrata, Libya, by a rocket-propelled grenade.
"Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy Award-nominated documentary Restrepo."
They added: "Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict."
“Start Quote
Peter BouckaertHuman Rights WatchIt really is a very tragic death for a giant in the field of war photography”
Vanity Fair magazine said Mr Hetherington was "widely respected by his peers for his bravery and camaraderie".
In a recent entry on Twitter, Mr Hetherington described "indiscriminate shelling" by pro-Gaddafi forces, who have been battling rebels trying to end the rule of long-time leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Mr Hondros was based in New York for Getty Images.
The company's director of photography, Pancho Bernasconi, said Mr Hondros had covered conflict zones since the late 1990s including Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The White House issued a statement expressing its "deep sadness" at Mr Hondros's death.
"Chris's tragic death underscores the need to protect journalists as they cover conflicts across the globe. Our thoughts are with Chris's family and loved ones," it said.
Cornish photographer Guy Martin, who was working with Panos Pictures agency, was hit by shrapnel and is being treated at a hospital in the city.
The White House said it was deeply saddened about the death of US photographer Chris Hondros
New York-based photographer Michael Christopher Brown was also treated for shrapnel injuries.
A survivor told the BBC that a group of journalists had been pulling back from near the front line during a lull in the fighting in Misrata when they were attacked.
Doctors at a Misrata hospital say they have treated more than 100 casualties, mostly civilians injured by mortar and sniper fire.
Libyan government forces have been battling rebels in Misrata, which is in western Libya, since late February and an estimated 300 civilians have died.
The Foreign Office confirmed Mr Hetherington's death and said it was offering consular assistance to his family.
Mr Hetherington (centre) is assisted by rebels as he climbs down a building hours before his death
Mr Hetherington, who had dual UK and US nationality, studied Literature at Oxford University.
The New York-based journalist was best known for his work in Afghanistan, and the film Restrepo followed US troops on an outpost in the country. He won the World Press Photo of the Year Award in 2007.
Journalist and film-maker James Brabazon, a close friend of Mr Hetherington, told BBC Two's Newsnight: "Tim was a leading light of his generation - it's really not an exaggeration to say that his eye and his ability, what he did, was unique.
"The main thing about Tim to understand is that he was fundamentally a humanitarian. A lot of the work that he did wasn't just for the news or for magazines but was for human rights organisations as well."
Another friend Peter Bouckaert, from the campaign group Human Rights Watch, said he had a "tremendous reputation and a giant heart".
He told BBC News the journalist had been planning to "slow down" and start a family with his partner.
"I was just with Tim two weeks ago in Benghazi, the rebel capital. At our last lunch together, he told me about the wonderful relationship he was in with this Somali woman and how he wanted to slow down and spend more time making kids," he said.
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said Mr Hetherington was "about as perfect a model of a war photographer as you're going to find these days".
In an editorial for the magazine, he described him as a "rangy, charming workhorse of a photographer".
"Devilishly good-looking and impossibly brave, he was both a ladies' man and a man's man," he said. "There were few like Tim, and there will be fewer like him."
Tributes have started to appear on his Facebook page.
One from film director Jean Manuel said: "Tim Hetherington, I love you. Thank you for everything. I will help make sure our work continues."
The New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) said two other journalists had been killed this year in the Libyan conflict.
Cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber was shot when his Al-Jazeera crew was ambushed near Benghazi on March 13. Mohammed al-Nabbous, founder of the online Libya Al-Hurra TV, was killed as he was streaming live audio from a battle in Benghazi on March 19.
>via: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13151490