Street Photog

In his excellent Hazardous Duty, Dave Hackworth tells the story of a fresh-faced, cocky young J-school photog grad, who showed up in Vietnam, ready to take his cameras into battle.  He was very very sure of himself.

            "First, lose that yellow baseball cap," Col. Hackworth told the boy, "It makes you a target for snipers."

            The neophyte wouldn''t listen.  "We shipped his body home on the next plane," writes Col. Hackworth.

            There''s a moral:  If you find yourself in battle, never for one moment think you are beyond the reach of its consequences.  The purpose of war is to kill people and break things, and it''s a safe bet at least one side in the conflict you wish to photograph considers you a fair target.  And they''re not kidding.  You may not be "subject to military discipline," but I strongly suggest you act as if you were.  Listen to the commander -- and follow his instructions.  You''ll live longer.

            What''s a good war photo?  Good question.  What are you doing there?  Who are you working for?  Are you there to show "our side vs. their side?  To borrow a concept from the sciences, what is your "research design?"  A "research design" is first a statement of your hypothesis, and then an enumeration of just how you plan to go about proving or disproving it. 

            You can''t photograph everything -- and you need to decide what kinds of images to look for, before you start.  Seriously.

            Suppose "it''s not your war."  Suppose you''re at the scene of a conflict that has nothing to do with you, for which your country is officially neutral.  Do you understand the issues?  From BOTH sides?  These people are killing each other -- do you comprehend why?  And, do you comprehend why they might not wish to have your cameras pointed at them?

            You''d better.

            My point:  Nothing''s simple.  If you''re going to go cover a battle zone, you''ll do a better job if you understand the issues before you get there.  Read up.  Listen to BBC (they still know what "value-free reportage" is, even if American media have all forgotten), and then go find a few nationals, a few citizens of the country, and interview them.  It''ll help.

            How much do you know about war?  Are you one of those folks who calls every long gun an "assault rifle," because you heard it on NBC?  Get over it.  Get yourself informed.  I know, you think "My job is to take pictures," but you need to know what you''re looking at!  What kind of aircraft?  What kind of tanks?  Who is supplying them?  You''ll do a better job when you know.  You NEED to know.  In WWII, American correspondents (and many GIs) called every German Tank a "Tiger" -- and most weren''t.  Get your facts right.

            And one more ethical issue: The battlefield is no place for a pacifist, or a Quaker.  You may well be put in a position where you may have to fight, to kill, if you would survive.  Can you pull a trigger, to save your life?  If not, don''