Tim Hetherington: Is there humanity in war?
Tim Hetherington was a British born photojournalist and
documentary film maker. During his time he documented political upheaval in
West Africa in countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria amongst
others. He also documented the Afghanistan war in the Middle East. Hetherington
unfortunately died whilst on assignment in Misrata Libya for Vanity Fair in
2011 with his colleague Chris Hondros.
Hetherington photographed war because he wanted to show the humanity of the people in the wars as we as tell a story with his images, he had said in an interview on YouTube about his work – he said that he wanted to convey emotion and feeling in to his images because he wanted them to be powerful and tell a story. He said that images can reach the world more than words can, no matter what language you speak, you can read an image.
A lot of Hetherington’s war photography and images from Afghanistan: The Humanity of War, were shot in colour and the way he shot them was from an intimate point of view that captures the American soldiers and almost gives them a personality and I guess it gives them that element of humanity because it makes you think and realise that they are still just everyday people like you and me because you can see them relaxing, sleeping, laughing and doing things to pass their time from when they are not out patrolling and risking their lives every day.
I think that Hetherington’s images work well in telling a story of what happens and what emotions the soldiers go through during war, but I personally do not find them as powerful and emotional as images by Don McCullin for example, I think that Hetherington’s style of photography more so tries to remind you that everyone involved in war is a person, an individual and that they all have a story where as McCullin’s images are more raw and remind you of the consequence of war and what tragedy happens. Hetherington’s images don’t depict people killing each other left right and centre; some of his images show a different side of war from the side lines – what the soldiers do when they are trying to wind down. I personally do not think his images really show the seriousness of war but they are trying to tell the stories of the soldiers in the war.
Hetherington photographed war because he wanted to show the humanity of the people in the wars as we as tell a story with his images, he had said in an interview on YouTube about his work – he said that he wanted to convey emotion and feeling in to his images because he wanted them to be powerful and tell a story. He said that images can reach the world more than words can, no matter what language you speak, you can read an image.
A lot of Hetherington’s war photography and images from Afghanistan: The Humanity of War, were shot in colour and the way he shot them was from an intimate point of view that captures the American soldiers and almost gives them a personality and I guess it gives them that element of humanity because it makes you think and realise that they are still just everyday people like you and me because you can see them relaxing, sleeping, laughing and doing things to pass their time from when they are not out patrolling and risking their lives every day.
I think that Hetherington’s images work well in telling a story of what happens and what emotions the soldiers go through during war, but I personally do not find them as powerful and emotional as images by Don McCullin for example, I think that Hetherington’s style of photography more so tries to remind you that everyone involved in war is a person, an individual and that they all have a story where as McCullin’s images are more raw and remind you of the consequence of war and what tragedy happens. Hetherington’s images don’t depict people killing each other left right and centre; some of his images show a different side of war from the side lines – what the soldiers do when they are trying to wind down. I personally do not think his images really show the seriousness of war but they are trying to tell the stories of the soldiers in the war.
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