Behind the lens: An inside view of war photography
Due to the nature of their work, many photojournalists risk their lives for the moment they seek to capture. This risk was graphically presented to the diverse audience attending the screening of Beyond Words: Photographers of War last Wednesday at the main campus of the American University in Cairo (AUC).
According to the film’s producer, Greg Kelly, the significance of these images is not recognized by the public, nor is the risk the journalists face to capture them. For this reason, the film revolves around the stories of 24 photojournalists who have covered conflicts in Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia and Iraq.
“[Photojournalists] are often used by people who are in a print medium...to illustrate text, rather than as pictures to tell stories on their own,” said Kelly. “They’re off center stage so they’re not noticed as much.”
Throughout the documentary, the photojournalists discuss what it feels like in the field and how it affects their lives at home. The film gives insight as to why these people continue to return to such horrors.
“It aims to complete your view of something you see everyday,” said Yasir Khan, assistant professor of
journalism and mass communication.
The photojournalists in the documentary have mixed reasons for why they have chosen their careers. Not all believe they are making a difference, but many romanticize their impact. Pulitzer Prize winner David Leeson says he is looking for “a photograph that could change the world” and make these conflicts stop.
For many in the audience, the appalling images of war were painful. Two students left midway through the screening because they couldn’t bear the intensity of the pictures.
In the question and answer session after the screening, Kelly discussed the importance of this feeling to understand the actual conflict.
For Jasmine Bayomy, journalism and mass communication junior, the intensity hit home. “I wanted to become a war photographer but now I don’t think I could do it,” she said.
The documentary is part of a series of documentary screenings brought to the AUC community by the Center for Electronic Journalism, as part of an initiative by the center to increase journalism and mass communication students’ exposure to current mass media.
The film is part of a graduate class on documentary photography taught by professor Yasir Khan.
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