INTRODUCTION
Dateline: Misurata, April 19. Heavy fighting, rebels fighting for their lives. And right beside them on the frontline on Tripoli Street, four brave men. Photojournalists doing for us what they so ardently believed in--documenting all the horror, bloodshed, pain and misery of Misurata, an urban battlefield.
Two were killed in action–Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros. Two were wounded–Michael Brown and Guy Martin. All four were cut down in the same attack, hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Nicole Tung, an American photographer near the scene, directed an ambulance to the wounded men. Both Hetherington and Hondros were severely injured and died despite efforts to save them. It had become very difficult for foreign journalists to enter rebel-held Misurata, but the port was open (barely) and so Hetherington and Hondros had arrived by sea on Saturday night. By late Wednesday night the same ship would be taking their bodies back to loved ones in the US.
Hetherington, a British citizen, was 40; Hondros, an American was 41. Both were very accomplished at visual storytelling. Just Google their names and you’ll find article after article, tribute after tribute. The more you read, the more you’ll cry.
Tim Hetherington had co-directed, with Sebastian Junger, the Afghan war documentary Restrepo, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was also nominated for an Academy Award. For eight years he lived in Liberia, where he reported from behind rebel lines during the civil war, and later investigated it as part of a committee under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council. He was a cameraman for The Devil Came on Horseback, a powerful documentary about the raiding and refugee crisis in Darfur. In Afghanistan, embedded with American soldiers, he earned their trust and produced work "celebrated for how it often captures soldiers’ humanity" (1). In Libya he was collecting raw material for a multimedia project "to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict" (2). This is what drew him to Misurata.
Chris Hondros, a photographer for Getty Images, had covered nearly every major conflict from the mid-1990s to the present, asiggnemnts that took him to Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Perhaps he was inspired by his immigrant parents, who had survived World War II in Germany and Greece. Like Hetherington, he was deeply engaged in the impact of war on civilians and wrote about this and other issues for the Virginia Quarterly Review (3). Hondros was a lover of classical music, whose friends recall his habit of conducting an imaginary orchestra while walking down the street. He collaborated with musicians to create innovative pieces, such as "Sound + Vision: At War." In this piece, as musicians played Bach, Hondros kept time at his computer, rhythmically projecting 900 photos he had taken in Iraq and Afghanistan (4).
Chris Hondros, a photographer for Getty Images, had traveled to Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East--covering nearly every major conflict from the mid-1990s to the present. Perhaps he was inspired by his immigrant parents, who had survived World War II in Germany and Greece. Like Hetherington, he was deeply engaged in the impact of war on civilians and wrote about this and other issues for the Virginia Quarterly Review (3). Hondros was a lover of classical music, whose friends recall his habit of conduct an imaginary orchestra as he walked along. He collaborated with musicians to create innovative pieces, such as "Sound + Vision: At War." In this piece, as musicians played Bach, Hondros kept time at his computer and projected 900 of photos that he had taken in Iraq and Afghanistan (4).
Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown, the two freelancers wounded in the same incident, are recovering. Both men began their careers in 2006 but they already have impressive portfolios. Martin, whose photos have appeared in leading British newspapers, was in Libya filing for the Panos agency. He has worked on projects in the Caucasus, Europe, Turkey, Iraq, Sudan and Uganda. Brown, less used to working in a conflict zone, admits being confused by the situation in Libya. It gives me a chill now to read what he wrote shortly after arriving: "Would Libya be different? Would it be a different world? Something told us so. Something would be there for us. Danger, excitement, importance, freedom, death. Perhaps all" (5).
Why would any reporter/photographer/cameraman working in a conflict zone venture so far into the thick of battle? The answer can be found in Hetherington’s and Hondros’s outstanding visual journalism, with its empathy and compassion for people’s hardships and pain. What brought Hetherington and Hondros to Misurata was a profoundly humanitarian impulse. The proof is in their work–in its sensitivity and its subjectivity. They did not see with the cold eyes of feigned objectivity. There is truth in subjectivity–and they knew it.
A very powerful image, one of Hondros’s last photographs, appeared on the frontpage of Thursday's Washington Post. It shows a man in a cemetery, with the markers of the recently buried all around him, the image of a city in mourning.
Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were more than photographers, more than journalists, more than our eyes and ears--they were the eyes and ears of history.
Other Journalists on the Frontlines in Libya
The first journalist killed in Libya, in an ambush on March 12th, was Al-Jazera cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber (6). Al Jazeera has alleged that this ambush was part of an effort by the Qaddafi regime to target its staff. Al Jaber, a citizen of Qatar, had served as a director of CNBC Arabiya TV in Qatar and produced several documentaries.
The second fatality was the young, courageous Libyan journalist Mohammed al-Nabbous, shot in Benghazi while transmitting live audio reports of the fighting for Libya Alhurra TV. He had founded this live stream channel so he could broadcast raw footage of what was happening as el-Qaddafi attacked the city (6).
When taken into custody by pro-Qaddafi forces, foreign journalists may be held indefinitely and beaten or otherwise mistreated. The four New York Times journalists held for six days, then released on March 21st, are among the lucky ones. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists 49 reporters have been detained in Libya–with 17 now in detention or missing (9). Four journalists captured on April 5th are still in custody–whereabouts unknown: James Foley and Clare Gillis (Americans), Manuel Varela (Spanish) and Anton Hammerl (South African). Yesterday, Libyan officials allowed Gillis to speak with her family and confirmed that Hammerl was in good health (10).
ACTIVITIES
HONOR these journalists in your classrooms in whatever manner you deem appropriate. Honor them for their humanitarian values and for their service to us all–for working in perilous places so that we may know "what people are going through in conflicts around the world" (11).
MUSIC or ART classes: Show the video "Baghdad in D Minor" (only 2:02 mins). Ask students to comment on how Bach’s music and the images work together to pull in the audience. What feelings does this multimedia piece evoke?
SHOW the Washington Post front page with Hondros’s photo of a Libyan man standing in a cemetery. What message was he trying to convey?
VIEW /DISCUSS other photo by Hetherington and Hondros from sites listed in the Resources. ASK: Why do you think he took this particular photo? How does it show the humanity of the person/people in the photo? How does it reflect the humanitarian values of the photographer?
DISCUSS: How does reporting from the frontlines shape our view of an ongoing conflict in the present? How does it both inform and frame the narratives of historians, for whom it is a primary source? In both context, what is the special contribution of visual journalism?
VISIT the Free Foley site and, if you are over 18, sign the petition. Urge younger students to share this information with their parents (who may then decide to sign the petition).
RESOURCES
For updates on journalists in Libya visit the web site of Committee to Protect Journalists: www.cpj.org
Bell, Melissa. "Two Photographers Killed in Libya (Photos)." Washington Post (April 20, 2011):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/tim-hetherington-producer-of-restrepo-killed-in-libya-photos/2011/04/20/AFPYo0CE_blog.html
- Includes Hetherington’s last Tweet, ending with "No sign of NATO"
- Photo of Hetherington with Sebastian Junger
- 8 photos by Hondros, shot hours before he died (plus one from April 14)–with link to Gallery of more photos and to PDF of frontpage
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chris-hondros/2011/04/20/AFlxDODE_gallery.html
Washington Post (April 21, 2011): http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/WashingtonPost/Content/Epaper/2011-04-20/Ax1.pdf
- PDF file of front page with Hondros photo (save PDF to show in classroom)
Chivers, C. J. "‘Restrepo’ Director and a Photographer Are Killed in Libya." New York Times (April 20, 2011):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/world/africa/21photographers.html?scp=1&sq=chivers%20restrepo%20libya&st=cse
Dunlap, David W., James Estrin, and Kerri MacDonald. "Parting Glance: Tim Hetherington." The Lens. New York Times (April 20, 2011): http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/parting-glance-tim-hetherington/?scp=3&sq=lens%20parting%20glance&st=cse
- Includes link to Michael Kamber’s interview with Hetherington about "Restrepo" as a work of mass communication
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/parting-glance-chris-hondros/?scp=1&sq=lens%20parting%20glance&st=cse
Tim Hetherington: http://www.timhetherington.com/
- "Biography" (URL: http://www.timhetherington.com/mentalpicture/page/224)
- See "Broadcasts" for links to slideshows, video clips, and trailers for documentaries.
"A Tribute to Tim Hetherington." Human Rights Watch (April 20, 2011): http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/20/tribute-tim-hetherington?print
Chris Hondros: http://www.chrishondros.com/
- For "Bio" and "Clips and Book Covers."
- See "Images" for photos from Liberia, West Bank, Kashmir, Cuba, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Angola, Macedonia/Albania, Kosovo
- VIDEO: Bach’s Partita in D Minor (performed by Mark Huggins), with photos that Hondros took through a Humvee window while riding through Baghdad (mostly civilians, many children)
- Article discusses music/photos of "Sound + Vision: At War"
- Why Bach? Hondros explained that Bach's music "sometimes speaks about deep emotions, about war and the bear of burdens"
- Includes link to petition to free James Foley and his colleagues; OR go directly to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/free-captured-American-journalists/
NOTES
1) For more details see "Biography" and "News" at www.timhetherington.com. Search online for reviews and commentary on Restrepo.
2) From the statement by Hetherington’s family, as quoted in the article by Leila Fadel and Jason Horowitz (see Resources).
3) See "Bio" at http://www.chrishondros.com/
4). James Estrin, "Baghdad in D Minor," (see Resources).
5) See "Biography" and "Stories" at http://www.guy-martin.co.uk/
6) See Brown’s photo essay, filed ten days after arriving in Libya, in Burn Magazine (March 13, 2011): http://www.burnmagazine.org/works-in-progress/2011/03/michael-christopher-brown-libya/. For his work in China, Mexico, and elsewhere go to http://www.mcbphotos.com/
7) "Al Jazeeera Staffer Killed in Libya," Al Jazeera English (March 12, 2011): http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/2011312192359523376.html
8) See article (with video), "Libyan Web Journalist Killed in Benghazi," France24 (March 20, 2011): http://www.france24.com/en/20110320-libya-nabbous-gaddafi-young-web-journalist-killed-attacks-benghazi
9) As reported in "Journalists Hammerl, Morgana Gillis in Libyan Custody," Committee to Protect Journalists (April 22, 2011): http://www.cpj.org/2011/04/journalists-hammerl-and-morgana-gillis-are-in-liby.php#more
10) See note 9. See also Free Foley web site.
11) Tyler Hicks, as quoted in "Parting Glance: Chris Hondros," New York Times (April 20, 2011).
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