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The Dangerous, Harrowing Work of War Photographer Chris Hondros

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  • The Dangerous, Harrowing Work of War Photographer Chris Hondros

    The Dangerous, Harrowing Work of War Photographer Chris Hondros





    Though he published thousands of photos, one of Chris Hondros' best known images remains seared in my mind: a young Iraqi girl crying, covered in the blood of her parents who were just killed by the US soldiers towering over her. I first saw it in the New York Times—a shocking story with a mesmerizing image. I was just finding my way in the world of photography at the time, thinking maybe I wanted to be a war photographer. Hondros' photos stood out for his ability to capture moments of clarity in tense, difficult situations. Not just dangerous situations, with bullets and mortars and shrapnel flying all around, but emotional ones. Like in the photo of that little girl, Samar Hassan.

    Shooting for Getty Images, Hondros covered the most perilous places on the planet. From the late 1990s onward, he risked his life so that we could casually glance at a photo in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post, or magazines such as The Economist, Newsweek, and Paris Match—and maybe even read the piece. Despite my own cynicism about over-coverage of violent conflicts, these types of photos are critically important in our understanding of what's going on in the world. And they are critical in getting people to pay attention.

    In April 2011, Hondros was killed while covering Libya—in the same attack that also killed the acclaimed photojournalist Tim Hetherington. Testament, a new offering from powerHouse Books, stands as a retrospective of Hondros' work, and also reveals him as a skilled writer and speaker who often talked publicly about his profession and the impact of photography, especially war photography, on society. Excerpts of his writings, speeches, and interviews are interspersed with the photos, giving a better idea of the man, and where he was coming from as a photographer. It's this extra stuff that makes Testament much better than just another collection of great photos from horrific situations. Proceeds from sales of the book, incidentally, go to the Chris Hondros Fund, established to support the work of conflict photographers and spread awareness of issues that arise from reporting in war zones.
    “Thus it is that no cruelty whatsoever passes by without impact. Thus it is that we always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.”

    ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

  • #2
    I agree about the picture referenced in the first paragraph. It is pretty much the defining picture of the war for me.


    “Thus it is that no cruelty whatsoever passes by without impact. Thus it is that we always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.”

    ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

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    • #3
      Another iconic photo from that conflict taken by Luis Sinco:


      “Thus it is that no cruelty whatsoever passes by without impact. Thus it is that we always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.”

      ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

      Comment


      • #4
        This one has always stuck with me:




        Ironically enough, what stuck out so much, beyond the absurdity of a ten-year-old carrying around an AK-47, is that ludicrous, out-of-place tie. It's almost Geisel-esque in its ridiculousness.
        It's been ten years since that lonely day I left you
        In the morning rain, smoking gun in hand
        Ten lonely years but how my heart, it still remembers
        Pray for me, momma, I'm a gypsy now

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Adam View Post
          This one has always stuck with me:




          Ironically enough, what stuck out so much, beyond the absurdity of a ten-year-old carrying around an AK-47, is that ludicrous, out-of-place tie. It's almost Geisel-esque in its ridiculousness.

          Incredible photograph. I can understand where you are coming from on the tie but the face of the kid, that hard determination that grabs the eye, won't let you really get any joy out of the absurdity.
          “Thus it is that no cruelty whatsoever passes by without impact. Thus it is that we always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.”

          ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

          Comment


          • #6
            The children soldiers always get me. The conflict for our soldiers when faced with that kind of absurdity. It's evil, in its purest form.
            Not where I breathe, but where I love, I live...
            Robert Southwell, S.J.

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