P.S.x3

A couple of updates—first, we got a nice note from Rajesh Thind, the filmmaker who made the video of himself being hassled in the streets by community wardens in the U.K. I've posted it as a "Featured Comment" to last Thursday's post. If you were following this topic you might want to check it out.

Also, just today, New York Times photographer David W. Dunlap wrote a piece about getting attacked on the street and having his camera smashed. Obviously, photographing criminal activity is a different sort of hazard than being thought a terrorist, but the story's in the general category of the dangers we face. Thanks to Michael Gottlieb for the link.

And while I'm mentioning comments, reader alkos linked a picture by James Nachtwey to the "Random Excellence: John Moore" post. Nachtwey's picture is like a bookend to Moore's; doubly thought-provoking. If you missed it, have a look.

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Mike  (Thanks to Rajesh, Michael, and alkos)

Featured Comment by John Camp: "Ah, man. This is what I was saying about Nachtwey a couple of weeks ago—the guy has a brilliant, blood-curdling eye for the aesthetics of tragedy. The John Moore photo is terribly touching, and is strong because it seems unrehearsed and kind of all over the place—the people watching in the background, the inclusion of disparate elements. It's powerful partly because it's so commonplace and universal: a woman grieving for her lost lover. Still, there's a sense to the photo that says life, does, and will go on.

"The Nachtwey photo is absolutely brutal and to the point: there's nothing in it that doesn't need to be there, and everything that is in it pounds home the point—even the dried up earth, the crappy-looking tombstones in disarray, the ghoul-like clothing of the grieving woman. She might be death herself, or dying herself; and her black-robed anonymity makes her a symbol for anybody who has lost someone in war.

"Moore's photo  was taken by a reporter who was there and had the ability to see; Nachtwey's was taken by an artist who happened to be reporting.

"Two pretty astonishing photographs. Makes you believe in the power of the camera, huh?"

Comments

[charlie d]

I know I am horrible for saying but: The Dunlap piece just made me chuckle a bit. You gotta know who you're dealing with on the street.

Nachtwey is brilliant to be sure...I think the John Moore pic has a larger impact on me personally. Guys like Nachtwey and Salgado offer, as much as anything, a window to the unknown, the exotic and a peek into a world most people will never ever see. If Steve McCurry had taken a photo of an equally compelling looking girl in Queens NY or Mobile Al. we would never know about it.