attempting to be a war photographer for many years but never got the courage to really act on it. this video literally made me cry. you guys are heroes.
Same here, I was always very interested. But I think it is something you 'need' to do and therefore you will, because you have no other chance. It just seemed interesting to me, which is probably not enough to do something so intense. It is still somewhat of a regret though, now that I am old.
I have a few hundred photos from my deployment to Kuwait in 2002 leading into Iraq in 2003, from Najaf to Baghdad and the closing out things in Fallujah. Not many of us had cameras back then... Mine was a 2 megapixel Cannon Elph, a tiny tank of a digital camera. Point is lol I wish there was something or someone that curated the photos taken by lowly grunts. I've seen a lot of other infantry guys photos as well and there is perspective there that is really missing from anything an outsider is able to capture... Anyway, I'm not even sure why I'm talking into the void. I should probably get some sleep. Much love.
Journalist and photographer here from the Maldives and wow, what great questions posed and what insightful answers for someone who might even consider their foray into war photography Brilliant work
Thank you DW for giving us the viewpoint of war journalists! It is a very interesting insight into the mind of those journalists who risk their life every time again and again to paint a picture for us of what a war zone is like. I feel for all those who have been deliberately targeted and killed. The deliberate killing of journalists is a shame for humanity and definitely constitutes as a war crime.
Wow that was brilliant. As a cameraman I was once asked would I like to participate in a war zone. I thought as I never had before and concluded I couldn't do it, but for what are selfish reasons, not noble ones when I concluded that I'm not sure I could deal with the legacy of war - the horror it is, the sounds, screams and how this might break me so I never went. 15 years later I did come across very dark scenes though when I filmed the aftermath of the Bunda Aceh tsunami for months. Somehow I escaped deep scarring. From the discussions by photojournalists in this production I can only but send my respect and condolences for that you have been through but also for urgencies of the scene you ignite the public's mind about.
I'm so glad in a video about war journalists the very unusual and brutal targeting of journalists by Israel in Gaza wasn't ignored. I also was little surprised to learn (although I guess I shouldn't be) that there's already a specific term "double-tap" to refer to targeting aid workers and journalists who arrive to a scene.
I was really happy to see they didn’t shy away from this either and specifically interviewed a journalist from Gaza, ostensibly one of the least safe individuals on the planet currently 😢
Double tap just refers to hitting the same target again to ensure that it has been killed/destroyed. It is not exclusive to Israel nor is it specific to targeting journalists or first responders. Please educate yourself. You do a disservice to the Palestinian people you allegedly support when you spread misinformation.
I'm sure every journalists will appreciate your work here. I know a lot of people loves to hate journalism and journalists but little did they realize how the world would be worse without these couragous people who risk their own lives almost every single day to bring us what many people is comfortbly sitting and watching or even cursing inside their room with AC and all the securities in the world provided while these journalists especially war journalists are in the middle of a real war armed with just camera and the courage to tell ppl the truth whether they wanna hear it or not even tho sometimes it feels like a thankless job but every good journalists know that they serve the higher morality and they will always keep up the work for the public, whatever it takes.
This is a fantastic piece of work, thank to every one involved and of course the journalist, photographers your profession really matters for the past, present and future of humanity.
thank you for another good report/documentary from Deutsche Well. You reach to the core of many important issues - including the human side of reporting.
Funnily when I began watching the movie the other night the Kirsten Dunst character somehow reminded me of briefly meeting Lynsey in Libya back in 2011 a day or two before she was kidnapped. I remember trying to warn Anthony Shadid back in Benghazi not to go back to Ajdabiya the next day after some rebels that day told me that it wouldn't be safe for journos to return the next day.
No spoilers for me-I’ll be watching the movie anyway-I enjoyed the video, hearing from real life war photographers and their experiences. Kudos to everyone.❤
Don't forget, a lot of us are ignorant to how we present to others, so ask someone who knows you and you trust if you're unsure. I assumed everyone else was like me for decades, and the realization of how different my experience was really opened my eyes.
The closest I ever got to photographing a war zone was when I visited Israel in 2014 and traveled into the West Bank. A few months after I left Gaza got bombed.
Excellent choice of photographers for this discussion. When I was in the business, an important source of stress came from my editors in the States. First, they wouldn't pay much. Secondly, they wouldn't engage in a mutually beneficial relationship. I would be looking out for my editors best interests, but they wouldn't be looking out for mine. It didn't take much for them to cut you off. You are completely alone on assignment. Working as a team with your editor is very rare. You're just a phone number to them.
Such a brilliant and honest discussion from all involved, and kudos to the host for employing such provoking questions. I think this video is evidence that Alex Garland succeeded in his agenda with the movie. His movies are always doors left open for discussion. This film opens people's eyes to war photography whilst leaning on character. People can then do their own research and find incredible videos like this, to help become more informed. Thank you to all that participated in this 👏🏻
23:57 .... Very good interview and an extremely good interviewer. Well done. My prayers for the Mohammad al Masri in Gaza. We feel your pain. Gaza will not be forgotten when we vote.
LOL...who elected a photographer to decide these things? Have you even listened to these interviews? They all have PTSD, have a screw loose, and a God complex.
@@jpm5205 Sad to say, those we have been lucky to elect in a free and fair election, have neither the balls nor the heart to call out atrocities. Maybe you have been elected to something. What do _you_ call what you see going on in Gaza ?
I think Civil always does a good job of not making the journalist a hero but a person who thinks they are a hero. There are No heroes just humans living. The last scene is perfect because it makes you think what would I do, then realize it DOENT matter they had no power over a situation just the ability to observe and report.
This is truly a great video. Loved the movie and it is beyond interesting to hear what the real life war photographers think about it and how it relates to their work and impact.
Wow, this is an excellent video. Thanks for sharing. I think war photographers aren’t accurately thought about in modern times. I know when I think of war journalism as a photographer, my mind goes back to Robert Capa and the other great photographers who documented WWII.
I've been waiting for something like this to come out since seeing the movie, I really wanted to know how war photographers would react or comment on the movie and this didn't disappoint. The photos shown from these guys in this interview are really striking and I believe I've seen that one photo of the soldier about to kick the person who was down in Bosnia when I was researching about the Yugoslavian War. Also the one doing the interview did a top notch job, clear, percise and respectable. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Same. I attempted to discuss the topic with photographers on Reddit and they were uninterested. It's nice to see some real discussions about the subject from actual war photographers/journalists. Fascinating and essential.
There are many war photographer movies, “The Bang Bang Club” is one about journalists: Greg Marinovich, Robin Comley, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva.
i went to see the film twice in one week, thoroughly enjoyed it. the way they handled cameras was also quite convincing. one must remember this is Hollywood so some liberties are taken to entertain an audience that may not have such a vested interest in photojournalism as us.
for me Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler is a story about sociopath, but Dunst in Civil War is story about psychopath. Both are, arguably, needed in some context like this
How is "i don't think you should have a break down on assignment if you are a seasoned photographer" considered bad... I just think the lady didn't fully get the point of the movie... Or maybe it's a professional deformation?
I was war photographer by chance, almost involuntary in eastern europe between 2011/2016 and the movie is incredibly acurate with my own experience, I lived first person at least half of the experiences seen in the movie in exactly the same way, like the escene in wich the snipers are shooting opositte to an invisible enemy that reduces the moment to do your best to shoot and hit the target, don't get shot, and finish just that single day alive.
Very powerful video. Great questions. Bless these photographers as if we did not have them all around the world we would not know what is going on and have the images to educate others. A powerful image possibly change opinions hopefully for the better…, for humanity sake?
No spoiler allert for me-I won't be watching this stuff (movies). Seems like Hollywood's stuck in a loop of churning out violence, fear and war flicks. My utmost respect goes to all war journalists diligently striving to reveal the genuine consequences of human suffering, perpetuated by politicians and in the name of various religious beliefs.
Get a camera. Buy a plane ticket Go to war Zone Make photos and transmit Look at some photojournalism videos. That will get you started and go from there. Ron haviv was interviewed by photo brigade abt it.
Is photography the best medium ? I think videos should be part of the mix. Most cameras that photograph also record. And so do smartphones. The sounds make things much more real if not uncomfortable. Though photos make people stop and think.
I dont think anything of what these photojournalists are saying about the why they take photos and what those photos do mean to the public are wrong, naive, or misguided. I do think they fail to recognize, perhaps out of necessity, that their photos do more to spark the idea of caring with the audience, rather than commit to the idea of doing something about it. The little people of this world care. But they lack experience. And so-called adults thrive on, above all else, is telling the little people how naive they are and in the "real world" adults dont care. Ergo, my point about photojournalism being more about the importance of sparking the idea of caring.... so as to remind one's self the capacity to do so still exists while actively participating in the extinguishing of the idea of making real change.
Lindsay, Ron, John, Peter and Mohamed do an important and difficult job (as everyone that risk their lives in such situations) and yet media outlets like DW in this case have the nerve to blur their photographs (Not even the most difficult to watch from their career) for a piece like this. And don't get me wrong. The Qs and As were great as were their take on the movie. But I wonder if DW told them that those few samples of their work were going to be censored during the edit. You should at least consider adding links to their sites, so people not familiar with their career can go check out what they've contributed to collective memory of the world for so many years.
Isn't this just because of RU-vid policies? Likely they had to censor the images to be able to share these excellent interviews with us. I agree with your point but if they didn't censor the work, we wouldn't be able to watch this video - it would just be taken down by YT.
@@jjdriessen Thanks for the response. That's a shame and absurd in my opinion. But if that's the way it is, I guess better that than no content at all. Cheers!
I use a variety of cameras and brands the x100 series I loved I bought a used xpro2 love it then went insane and bought a Q2 this one is incredible I still enjoy the xpro2 but don’t use it since getting the Q2 that is until I modified the xpro2 to shoot infrared now it’s constantly in my bag alongside the Q2. The wee Ricoh has always interested me and thoughts of the xpro4 haha bring it on. I can’t say as I have a perfect camera I have so many for different needs but if I had to pick only one for the rest of my days it would be the Q2 awesome for street and documentary awesome for landscapes awesome for macro such a fine camera lens combo love it. Great vid Craig cheers
Shallow DOF, long focal length that compresses distance, very short or very long exposure, color correction, and of course, framing means that you cannot trust a photo. Even worse, they are now shooting news with large-sensor video cameras, so the bsckground is blurred, and there is no sense of reality.
Watched it the week it came out, Its really a simple list any modern shooter can see the glaring issues (well at least as a CBRN/Event shooter I can) 1. Lack of ware/blemishs and cammo on kit, its all new out of box and it shows too bloody shiny. (also no 60-600mm or 18-400mm lenses...) (and I don't see many sane people using stock Sony eyecups, gurrilia g-cups for example have been go tos for years as they protect the eye from dust and debris) 2. Lack of peltors, radios, side arms, plate carriers (Level 4 UHMPE plates), medical trama kits. 3. If a blast goes off point blank, yeah your losing your hearing right off the bat, and without respirator protection and the dust will mess up your eyes and lungs directly after. 4. B/W film development is a cute scene, but we all know its not a 15min job shooting film is only sane for EMP situations in this era. 5. No sat phones? yeah this is ment to be modern day no sane western conflict shooter is going into that without one they are cheeper then life/heath insurance. The scene ware the sacrifical elder lamb of the film guns it in a car is I feel the most funny becouse of how unrealistic it is, they would have pock shooted the soilders as soon as a comrade was downed they were the only support, it just feels too ilogical in that sort of local conflic in the NA region.
That's the thing though within the lore of the film, the internet has not been broadly shut down that seems all private suppliers and infrastructure would still be somewhat operational especially international organisations such as iridium.
Everything is okay, but at 1:41, I am stopping this video because I really much feel dizzy just by the editing of this video. No frame in the beginning is shown for longer than ~3 seconds in average. Is this something that editors take in consideration, seriously.
Amazing video concept. But i feel the questions fall very short . The presenter seems completely uninterested in his tone and expression. To be infront of such amazing individuals the questions and reactions dont even match the enthusiasm of the photographers. Seems like the presenter could have been replaced with a screen with text questions and not much would have changed. Just kind of disappointing not to get a human conversation when covering one of the most brutal aspects of human existence.
You don't have to be a war photographer yourself to see how little sense this movie made. The nonsense starts 10 seconds in when we learn that Texas and California had formed a secession alliance and it doesn't end until the credits roll. Horrible, cringe pseudo-realistic movie for aging hipsters.
@@Absurdi5t This documentary's entire premise is on talking about what the movie did get right and what not. In my opinion, it didn't get right anything except for the fact that war photographers usually wear cameras around their neck.
Allow me to be skeptical of the alleged number of journalists that died so far in the Gaza war, and of their status as journalists. Apart from 3 identified Lebanese journalists, and a very small number of palestinians, we have very little information on who those other "journalists" (all palestinians) were, who they were working for, if they were truly journalists and not just social media influencers, etc... The number of journalists' death is announced by the Hamas media office, and seeing how Hamas officials count their dead, I think we should be wary about the veracity of their claim in the case of journalists too. There were 63 journalists killed during 20 years of the Vietnam war, 17 in 10 years of Ukraine war (since 2014), and we're supposed to believe that more than a 100 died in less than 6 months in Gaza ? Sorry, I don't buy it. Also, Mr Al Masri, you who want to "show the criminality of the occupation, what it does to children, to women, to citizens, and to the youth", do you also broadcast the criminality of Hamas and what it did to children, women, citizens and young ones in Israel on October 7th ? Because if you don't, you're not a journalist in my book, you're an activist. And there's a massive difference between the two... That being said, I'm all for allowing international journalists to go freely into Gaza. Finally, this is the second video from DW that I watch concerning the history of Israel or the current events, and to me, the channel clearly shows an anti Israel bias. I criticize Israel and their decisions, I think we all should when it's needed, but this is closer to having an agenda than to doing impartial journalism. The rest of the interviews were interesting nonetheless.
Ah yes, because a Palestinian journalist would be allowed into Israel to document what happened on October 7th, right after it. Lmao, have a fucking word with yourself. As for the stats, they've been backed up by multiple sources, including the UN now (I already know where you'll shift your next goalpost to). Also, if anything the German press has been pro-Israeli the entire time lol (source: someone currently living in Germany).
You summed up my thoughts exactly. Way too slanted of a report to not be seen as unbiased. It's a shame because I enjoyed the interviews and have respect for those who do what they do to report the truth, no matter what the content or who it may paint as good or bad. That is is the heart of journalism. But unfortunately, on the right, left, and in-between we see so much editorializing. This is killing the public's trust in media.
I mean, there are videos of people wearing press uniforms being shot and bombed in Gaza so even if they arent journalists of a repuitable source, or any mainstreem publication at all, it still shows that thosew wearing press uniforms are targeted. And those doing the targeting are knowingly attacking people who outwardly identify as press.
I think its fair to say, that the writer, director, and executive production team, knew a long time before cameras rolled, that this film would be judged by it's subject matter. I'm also aware of the realities of generating revenue from a project is the henchman over your shoulder when producing a passion project. So, yes, while its flawed, it will inspire a new generation of photographers. Just like Under FIre did for me.
over all as gun nerd and a photographer the movie was not good at what they were after, in war you don't want those people in the front lines is a big one that got me.
the funny background music during the “bad” section was totally unecessary. They’re serious journalists taking notes and giving critics not making fun of it
