Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/09/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I was struck by a couple things - The first being that Nachtwey eschews the official war photographer garb for neatly pressed white shirts, clean, perhaps pressed jeans, and a minimum of gear. He is there to photograph, not to be photographed while photographing. ;-) The other thing is that there are a number of scenes in which the subjects are quite clearly playing for the camera. It's not that he is setting anything up, or indicating how he wants people to act. Rather it's that they are very aware of his presence and of their role as subjects. This was particularly true of some of the women in the part in which bodies were being dug up and apparently identified. And it was also an evident factor in the scenes on the West Bank. Nachtwey does indeed seem very different from Capa in terms of life-style and demeanor. -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Jeffery Smith Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 3:02 PM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] "The Death of Eddie Adams, The Death of War Photography" War Photographer was interesting to me in that Nachtwey was able to shoot scenes of people undergoing intense emotional suffering, and he seemed to fit into the surroundings without raising any objections from the people. I found it also interesting that he seemed to be the opposite of Robert Capa. I envision Capa as being a hard-drinking flamboyant guy who might have been compared with Ernest Hemingway in his lifestyle. Nachtwey drank water after a stressful day, and excused himself early so he could get up early to shoot while his friends were sleeping it off. Very quiet and introverted, he seemed to be able to draw attention AWAY from himself. I had read that he was seriously wounded in Iraq last year, and have not read anything about him since then. He DID surface in a Canon ad, though. As BD says, get the DVD. I used the search feature in DirecTV for six months before concluding that this film is never on cable or satellite TV. Jeffery Smith New Orleans, LA -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of B. D. Colen Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 12:48 PM To: 'Leica Users Group' Subject: RE: [Leica] "The Death of Eddie Adams, The Death of War Photography" Finally got around to reading the Pete Hamill piece about Eddie Adams: War photography in general, and Eddie Adams in particular, deserved far, far better. Hamill's been hanging around with too many celebrities for too long. If you really want to take in something significant about war photography and war photographers, read/look at Requiem, and follow it up by throwing "War Photographer" on the DVD player. B. D. -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of oliverbryk@comcast.net Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2004 3:06 PM To: lug@leica-users.org Subject: [Leica] "The Death of Eddie Adams, The Death of War Photography" I would like to bring to your attention an obituary by Eddie Adams's friend Pete Hamill, "When the Shooting Stopped," on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times of Saturday, September 25. If you are not a subscriber you may want to read it at your local library, even if you dislike The New York Times for political reasons. Pete writes about war photography in a voice that I have not seen before; and he writes about Eddie Adams as someone he knew really well. Oliver Bryk PS: Pete Hamill was a war correspondent in Vietnam. _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information