Review: War Photographer (2001)

Directed by: Christian Frei | 96 minutes | documentary, war | With: James Nachtwey, Christiane Amanpour, Hans-Hermann Klare, Christiane Breustedt, Des Wright, Denis O’Neill

“ If your photos aren’t good enough, you don’t get close enough. ” This is a famous statement by legendary war photographer Robert Capa, who made a name for himself with his image accounts of five different wars (including the Spanish Civil War and World War II) . Capa ultimately had to pay for his will to show the world the turmoil of war; in 1954 he stepped on a landmine in what was then Indo-China. James Nachtwey is seen as a worthy successor to Capa. He too has been right on top of everything for twenty-five years. What motivates someone to seek out the suffering of others for years on end? The Swiss documentary maker Christian Frei tries to find an answer to this in the documentary “War Photographer”.

Since 1981, James Nachtwey has been on the front row of all wars, ready to take heartbreaking pictures of the devastation of lives and countries. His photographs provide an eternal testament to the children of war-ravaged Kosovo, who wander through once lively streets or in hospitals, dying after stepping on a landmine. The photos he took during the civil war in Rwanda show the heavily mutilated bodies of victims, who have been cut with knives by bloodthirsty compatriots. In Asia he photographed bitter, sad poverty; boys and men who risk their lives in the deadly sulphite mines for a few nickels. He sees his photos not as an end, but as a means to end the war by showing the outside world its horrors.

Christian Frei shows unique material because he managed to mount a microscopic camera on Nachtwey’s camera. In this way, the viewer is present “live” when Nachtwey goes to work and sees how the photographer, for example, witnesses the devastating sorrow of the Kosovars when the mass graves are opened and they see the bodies of their deceased loved ones again. Nachtwey seems to be doing his job unmoved, but that is almost impossible. No one who sees these images remains unmoved. Rather, the photographer seems to have been bruised by all the misery he has seen in the past twenty-five years.

In addition to these images and photos, the documentary also shows interviews with colleagues and with Nachtwey himself. Unfortunately, the photographer is not really the most sparkling personality; he is sober and talks thoughtfully and in clichés. You don’t have to expect spectacular statements from him. Fortunately, his colleagues do come up with interesting anecdotes, so that you get to know the person behind the photographer a little bit. For example, cameraman Des Wright tells a story about Nachtwey, who dramatically managed to convince an Indonesian criminal and thus saved the life of a man who would otherwise be stoned. Nachtwey is indeed a person of flesh and blood, but probably does not like to be in the picture, let alone talk about himself.

“War Photographer” is a must for journalism and photography students, if only to see how things work in the world of news. Nominated for an Oscar, the documentary may not give a complete picture of the intriguing person James Nachtwey, but certainly his work.