James Nachtwey – War Photographer

I have seen previous works of James Nachtwey but after watching the War Photographer documentary film, I now understand his concepts as to why he does what he does. Nachtwey is an amazing photojournalist and I believe that his images are so powerful because they are able to present a completely real representation of the world. I consider that a lot of his images tend to provoke two things, attention and emotions. This is because his shots can immediately grab the viewer’s attention because of the topic of war and all it entails, and as a result, our emotions then take effect to what we see. Nachtwey explained that he was able to “channel emotions of anger, frustration, disbelief and grief all into his works.”

The rawness of the graphics on subject matters such as, war conflicts and major issues concerning poverty, massacres, and the struggles of humanity taking place around the world are ways that Nachtwey is making the viewers more concern and aware of these problems. Nachtwey’s stated in the video that one of the main reasons he does what he does is because he wants to convince people with his pictures, and I can testify that he does a phenomenal job in accomplishing that. Moreover his images also conjure a sense of suspense because as I looked through a collection of his images, I tend to wonder what will the next image be of, and what story will Nachtwey try to share/show to the rest of the world.

“We must look at it. We’re required to look at it. We’re required to do what we can about it. If we don’t, who will?” – James Nachtwery