The best photographs capture moments at the extremes of human experience; unbearable pain, irreplacable loss, unkempt anger, fear, frustration or boundless happiness, beauty and love.
Photographers work best in extreme situations: we see a hundred flashbulbs go off at the Oscars and we see the monopods out again when a calamity befalls upon us. Photographers love celebratory fireworks, movie stars and coronations but its uncanny how they will always get better pictures documenting a monumental tragedy or some skewed war.
The covenant is that the photographer must remain objective and responsible. He must shoot even if he’s disgusted by what he has in his viewfinder, as he must when he’s delighted. He must take that picture for someone else. A photographer’s calling is to convey the moment and he must show it like it happened.
I have an interest in photography; in pictures and the stories behind the pictures. Most people appreciate good imagery, few ever compliment a photographer for his objectivity, for having had the courage or for his selflessness in taking the picture. James Nachtwey was honored by TED last year for having told us like he saw it.
The best compliment I can give to Nachtwey is that his pictures push me to the edge of my emotions and yet I don’t know which side he’s on.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Photography as a noble pursuit, nicely written.
An image, physically present in front of us, is undeniable. We know when we see it, that the person who took the photograph was there, hearing the sounds, smelling the air, not in an air-conditioned room hundreds of miles away and a week later writing for a deadline. The result of that knowledge is belief, and where there is belief, there can never be a suppression of emotion. A photograph is a powerful tool, and just as easily be a force for good or evil, a weapon or a Saviour. Right or wrong, literally in the eye of the beholder.