I never met Tim Hetherington. I watched him from afar through his work in the field covering conflict and other stories. Although I have a few friends who specialize in covering conflict, I wouldn’t say I know them particularly well, and I wouldn’t say I know their nuances, but when I heard Tim talk about his work, it sounded different from everyone else. There seemed to be more dialogue about context and less talk, and less images, about actual front line battle scenes. Sadly, it was a front line battle scene that cost him his life.
The Imperial War Museum in London is currently running an exhibition about Tim’s work.
Four films, dozens of contact sheets, numerous prints, a few interactive pieces as well as the ephemera that made us his life. Cameras, maps, journals, and books. I found Tim through a book titled “Long Story Told Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold.” This book is a masterpiece. Like multiple books in one. But Tim is perhaps most well known for his book Infidel and his Oscar nominated film Restrepo, co-created with Sebastian Junger, about an American platoon in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. (Both worthy of your time and money.)
I was sick and dealing with semi-agonizing back pain, but I still made the effort to go see the show, and I’m glad I did. Tim kept a diary. In fact, one of his most interesting projects was a short film titled “Diary,” which is unlike most films about war.(Influenced no doubt by Apocalypse Now.) But he was also a diary keeper in traditional form. Call it what you want, journal, notebook, etc. He had unbelievably good handwriting. A tiny, all cap, print that is incredibly easy to read. He was insightful.
You’ve heard me harp on the importance of photographers writing along with their work. You’ve heard me harp about my journal. Tim’s show was so much more powerful because of what lives on the pages of his notebook. Clunking along with his Hasselblad, his Mamiya 7, his Rollei, trying to make sense of the world. Snatching free moments to jot down his thoughts. According to his friends, some of whom spoke to him the day before he was killed when he made the decision to cover the front lines in Libya, he was all in when it came to doing this kind of work. He wasn’t the only journalist to die that day. Chris Hondros was taken as well. A reminder that bullets and mortars don’t care about your accolades.
Comments 17
Thanks for sharing Dan, like many I’ve been a fan of his work for some time.
Unfortunately my geographic location is as far away as you could get from exhibitions like this.
Author
I hear ya. I’m fortunate. Santa Fe, for its size, tons of this stuff.
I remember Restrepo vividly, even though I only watched it the once. It was right when I was applying to join the military and the raw storytelling left an impression.
Watch Restrepo at https://watchdocumentaries.com/restrepo/
Author
So good.
As always thank you for these posts. Would love a top down view of the show catalog. You know when you have 😉 time. Thanks again.
Author
I gave mine away…
I know there’s a lot to be gleaned from this, but my thoughts are stuck at “I need to get some trays filled and churn out contact sheets!” I love contact sheets. I will finally check out Restrepo as well. I think I was confused about what it was.
Author
Contacts can be revealing. And worth it.
Daniel-San: If I recall, Lyndsey Addario writes movingly about Tim Hetherington in her book “It’s What I do”. Her abduction in Libya and Hetherington’s death caused her to step back from the front lines and re-think her life. She writes about survivor’s guilt after Tim’s death…
Author
My guess is there was a bit of seduction with getting in and getting out and the getting in caught up to him. For a long while he didn’t really do the front lines work. His technique changed too.
I’m currently reading the book about Hetherington, :”Here I am”. Good stuff. Hondros’ self-titled book is excellent as well.
Author
I need that.
Thanks for this. I vividly remember your post a while back about his film “Diary” which totally transformed my idea of what filmmaking could be. Restropo is a hands-down masterpiece. I’m looking forward to discovering his books, and it’s a great thing that he has an exhibit dedicated to his work (but how did he ever write so legibly?).
Author
Me too. That doc film is something I need to see and his books.
Thanks Dan for sharing this. Just need to convince the wife to visit. That is some damn neat handwriting!
Author
Just make her watch all 959,000 hours of my YT channel.