War Photographer

Throughout the entire film I was most amazed seeing how confrontational James Nachtwey had to be to get his desired shots. He goes above and beyond as a documentary photographer by becoming involved in the situations he was shooting. I think there is a certain self-confidence I still need to build in myself and my photography before I have such courage to ask a community if I could document their suffering in hopes of bringing change. I still wonder the reason, but if I am not bringing my subject into my own world, I am shy to photograph in theirs. I’m not sure if I should overcome my fears or know my limits because so early in my photography career it is difficult to determine what limits I may have. At least for the moment, I still lack the courage to put myself into dangerous situations, physically and mentally.

Nachtwey had a control over his emotions that would take me ages to master and because I do not have a strong desire for any kind of photo journalism, it is a kind of control I will be lacking until it proves to be what I want to do. He seemed to lack emotion to me at one point of the film, until I realized he channels all his emotions into photographs to not only show the pain and suffering of war but also possibly as a means to express his own pain and suffering. I wonder what else could attract him to such a subject besides a purely compassionate, sympathetic soul. If it can be held true at all, I wonder what style of photography will be best to express myself. If I were to be a war photographer, I would have to get a better grip on my emotions and convert their energy to my photography. As Nachtwey hints in the film, if I were to give into them, I’d be setting myself up for disaster. I would have to better believe that my photography could help them before I could be a war photographer, or other dramatic subjects of documentary photography.

The photographs I enjoyed most by Nachtwey were those of the families who had developed their own community near train tracks because I found their lifestyle to be unique, though the most compelling photographs by him were more in the moments of violence. However, all his images silenced my mind with sadness. It is amazing what life will make us get used to in order to survive, even to the lengths of dangerously living between road tracks. The people seemed as if they didn’t even notice the train passing, as if they didn’t hear it or feel it push past. When they could not afford anything else, they worked with what they could get. Although comparing to my life would be too much of an exaggeration, I can understand getting used to something out of necessity.

A particular skill noteworthy that Nachtwey has is to stay calm and centered, to pre-vision situations, to make decisions quickly in a very subconscious manner, to manage your fear and be precise. This level of working, namely staying calm and centered, is part of what brought me to photography. I appreciated that it allowed me to slow down and become very aware of what was around. Working in a field like war photography would be the ultimate test for my ability to slow down and stay calm. I do not think I’d ever be so extreme, but maybe another dramatic photography field that is less dangerous would be worth experiencing to broaden my photography horizons.