战地摄影师

很喜欢，所以摘录下来：

“Why photograph war? Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance yet that very idea has motivated me. For me the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war. And if used well, it can be a powerful ingredient in the antidote to war. In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of the war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what is happening, he’s trying to negotiate for peace. Perhaps that’s the reason why those in charge of perpetuating the war do not like to have photographers around.

In the field, what you experience is extremely immediate. What you see is not an image on a page in a magazine ten thousand miles away, with an advertisement for Rolex watches on the next page. What you see is unmitigated pain, injustice and misery. It’s occurred to me that if everyone can be there just once, to see for themselves what white phosphorous does to the face of a child, or what unspeakable pain is caused by the impact of a single bullet, or a jagged piece of shrapnel can rip someone’s leg off. If everyone can be there and see for themselves the fear and grief just one time, and they would understand that nothing is worth letting things get to the point where that happens to one person, let alone thousands. But everyone cannot be there, and that is why photographers go there: to show them, to reach out and grab them, make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to what is going on. To create pictures powerful enough to overcome the eluding effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference. To protest. By the strength of that protest, to make others protest…

The worst thing to feel is as a photographer, I’m benefitting from someone else’s tragedy. This idea haunts me. It’s something I have to reckon with everyday. I know that if I ever allowed genuine compassion to be overtaken by personal ambition, I will have sold my soul. The only way I can justify my role is to have respect for the other person’s predicament. The extent to which I do that is the extent to which I become accepted by the other, and to that extent, I can accept myself.”