In my mind’s eye, there is a perpetually revolving carousel of images that define the Iraq war. Many of them I saw in person. But many I did not.

A pool of red, bloody water reflects passers-by with the precision of a mirror. Crushed plastic bottles float on the unruffled surface. That photograph was taken by Ahmad al-Rubaye, a former carpenter and wedding photographer, at the scene of a bombing.

Michael Kamber, Lens

When the war started, photojournalism did show its power to sway public opinion. But it was in those early years as well — in some of the same images — that we saw photojournalism’s failures.

Photo Booth:

The photographer Benjamin Lowy was recently awarded the Duke Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography for his book “Iraq | Perspectives.” The book documents Lowy’s time covering the war in Iraq and reveals the U.S. soldiers’ experiences as seen through their night-vision scopes and their armored Humvee windows. Recently Lowy sat down with me to talk about both his book and his life as a conflict photographer. Here’s a selection of his photographs and what he had to say.

Lens:

“In between conflicts, I go and photograph surfing,” he said. “I’ve always been scared by colleagues who are obsessed with war. I did not want to be like that. So I go make photos of something beautiful.”

It is a kind of therapy, though not without danger.

Though there are no hard numbers, the Libyan war appeared to draw a large number of unprepared and inexperienced photographers to the war zone. Anecdotal evidence suggests hundreds of photographers from around the world flocked to the cities of Ajdabiya, Benghazi and Misurata in the spring of 2011. Many of them were under 30 and under fire for the first time. 
Many paid their own way.

Jehad Nga, LightBox:

The personal conflict I felt during this time brought me to a point where my relation to breaking news played less an immediate role in my work than trying to restore my connection during a period when so much was unclear and surreal. Memories near and far rushed forward and I felt I needed to step back before the whole thing engulfed me.

Greg Marinovich:

Uniquely, the Eritrean revolutionaries fighting for independence from Ethiopia made a decision in the ’Sixties to assign fighters – both male and female – to record the war. They wanted to be in a position to write their own history, and not have their epic struggle distorted by the outside world. They also had to use propaganda to unite the diverse peoples of Eritrea against Ethiopia. The warrior-photographers brief was to be both soldier and reporter, and to decide when to shoot with the camera or with the gun.

The archive chronicles the full tapestry of the Eritrean struggle: the early rebellion; the famine of the ’Eighties that Emperor Haile Selassie exacerbated in an attempt to starve the revolution into submission and the ten long years when the Eritrean guerillas were living in underground bunkers, besieged by the massive Ethiopian army.

He has, as he puts it, taken “terrible liberties” with his life — dashing through rice paddies in Vietnam to escape snipers’ bullets; jumping up to snap a shot during gun battles — to bring home images that are, at times, excruciating to look at but often unforgettable.

Lightbox:

On the tenth anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, TIME asks 40 renowned photographers to reflect on their harrowing experiences covering the conflict—and to describe which of their own photographs moved them most.

Photo by James Nachtwey

lens:

There are places and times where the politics that drive wars fade and then fade more, becoming abstractions to the people who fight or who are in a fight’s way. And there are moments when politics entirely disappear, and more elemental actions and emotions replace them.

These are the seams and the instants that Tyler Hicks has sought, and repeatedly found, in his decade photographing the latest Afghan war.

As the Afghan war neared a decade’s worth of combat, casualties and headlines, the photographer and filmmaker Danfung Dennis was looking to jolt people’s consciousness.

“I was frustrated with photojournalism, and I was frustrated with society back in the U.S. being indifferent to the war,” said Mr. Dennis, who had covered Afghanistan as a still photographer in 2006. “I moved into video and new media to try to shake people up — to show the war’s brutal reality in an honest way.”

In this affecting and thought-provoking piece, photojournalist Adam Ferguson gives us an unedited account of his work as a combat photographer, and shares his feelings about the troops, war photography, Afghanistan, and combat in general.

]]> http://theclick.us/2011/09/adam-ferguson-war-is-boring/feed/ 0 http://theclick.us/2011/07/war-is-boring/ http://theclick.us/2011/07/war-is-boring/#comments Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:30:46 +0000 Trent Nelson http://theclick.us/?guid=3be55b1b79c48daefe8940c448fd7bac VII Magazine:

In this very personal story Adam Ferguson gives us an unedited account of what it is like to be a combat photographer. He openly discusses what his feelings are about the troops, war photography, Afghanistan, and combat in general.

]]> http://theclick.us/2011/07/war-is-boring/feed/ 0 http://theclick.us/2011/07/war-photographers-retreat-august-in-massachusetts/ http://theclick.us/2011/07/war-photographers-retreat-august-in-massachusetts/#comments Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:55:08 +0000 Trent Nelson http://theclick.us/?guid=3b19c00b2df27e8eb4bb61a506ee1f26

A retreat for photojournalists whose work takes them to wars, conflicts, and disasters. In honor of Tim Hetherington.

]]> http://theclick.us/2011/07/war-photographers-retreat-august-in-massachusetts/feed/ 0 http://theclick.us/2011/07/christopher-morris-%e2%80%98shut-up-stop-thinking-for-yourself-and-kneel-before-the-almighty-war-photographer%e2%80%99s-pictures%e2%80%99-rafiqui-%e2%80%98err-maybe-not-tonight-chris%e2%80%99/ http://theclick.us/2011/07/christopher-morris-%e2%80%98shut-up-stop-thinking-for-yourself-and-kneel-before-the-almighty-war-photographer%e2%80%99s-pictures%e2%80%99-rafiqui-%e2%80%98err-maybe-not-tonight-chris%e2%80%99/#comments Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:15:28 +0000 Trent Nelson http://theclick.us/?guid=681816289a61a7ba09ac0b41e611982f

The VII photographer Christopher Morris has responded to my post ‘The War Photographers biggest story: themselves‘, which I published a few days ago, and which seems to have hit a nerve.

I’m posting his comment in full below as well as a response from Asim Rafiqui, who recieved The Aftermath grant in 2009.

Is the ‘best’ story a war photographer can provide these days – the one that will get the most space – themselves?  Not just any photographer though. They need to be western and preferably English speaking. And not just any story. They need to be kidnapped, shot, sexually abused or blown up. If they want to hit the chat shows they also need to be a survivor.

Link: The war photographer’s biggest story: themselves | duckrabbit – we produce photofilms

From February 26th to April 7th, 2011, Moises Saman, on assignment for The New York Times, was one of the few western photographers allowed to work in Tripoli—as a “guest” of the Gaddafi regime.

Link: Theater of War: Inside Gaddafi’s Libya – LightBox

As we walked the streets, I noticed a certain type of photographer that stood in contrast to the sophisticated, mature practioners like Tim or our other luncheon mates, John Stanmeyer, Ami Vitale, David Strick, Jack Picone and others. It seemed to me this group was like a pack of roving jackals. There was a certain aggressive energy, wildness and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. This subset of photographers spoke about wanting to change the world, but their words sounded somewhat disingenuous. They wanted the thrill of danger, the clarity that comes when Life faces Death; the hunt, the kill. Their giant cameras slung around their necks while strolling around the peaceful streets of this French city were like bazookas, and shooting was an act of aggression for them.

Link: Meditation On The Death Of A Hero