Tim Hetherington Killed in Libya April 20, 2011 3:22 PM Subscribe
British photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington was killed by artillery fire in Libya today. He was 41 years old. Hetherington, who covered conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, won critical acclaim with his 2010 documentary Restrepo. The movie, co-directed with fellow war correspondent Sebastian Junger, follows a U.S. Army unit stationed in a remote part of the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. It received the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Hetherington had been covering the siege of the Libyan city of Misrata when a mortar round landed nearby, killing him and seriously wounding at least one other journalist.
I just finished watching his last posted video on Vimeo, called simply Diary.
It's a beautiful, very moving piece of work.
. posted by Flashman at 3:27 PM on April 20, 2011 [6 favorites]
Here's his "Diary" where he tries to paint a portrait of his life abroad while in war zones.
Here's his last update to Twitter, posted yesterday. Kind of chilling.
Here's to a brave man who risked it all so we can see what's going on. Rest in peace. posted by Burhanistan at 3:31 PM on April 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
Chris Hondros, another injured journalist, has also died.
I'll refrain from commenting on the Libya mission and just say that Restrepo is a revealing (and not very encouraging) glimpse into the Afghanistan war. posted by mediareport at 3:42 PM on April 20, 2011
Link for some of Chris's photos taken today. posted by Jaymzifer at 3:42 PM on April 20, 2011
"so now as i'm leaving i'm weary as hell the confusion i'm feeling ain't no tongue can tell the words fill my head and fall to the floor if god's on our side he'll stop the next war"...bob dylan posted by kitchenrat at 3:54 PM on April 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
He was the same age as me. As you get older, you start to think more about the meaning of your work, have I done something that made a fitting impact on the world, was I important? I don't think I would call it sweet and becoming to die doing something you are passionate about, but this does frame Heatherington's work sharply. May we all find a personal calling for which we feel compelled to put our lives on the line, and may few of us ever be called on to actually give over those lives.
I saw Page One, the film about the New York Times, and in it there are a few scenes where people question Media Desk writer David Carr about the Grey Lady's coverage of war and disaster. He nearly bites their head off. His response seems a bit extreme, but it's worth remembering that he has seen reporters like these risk life and limb to tell the world stories that would not otherwise get told, and so he is, perhaps understandably, a bit hot-headed about the subject. You can't be a journalist at a big paper for very long without one of your coworkers dying or nearly dying on their job.
I have nothing but respect for the job. Most Americans go into war zones with guns, or with the red cross of being a medico, which is supposed to protect them under the Geneva Code. (I understand that it offers scant protection.) These men and women go int combat with nothing more than a laptop computer or a camera. posted by Astro Zombie at 4:12 PM on April 20, 2011 [2 favorites]
Oh wow, this is a big loss. Such a waste.
. posted by nevercalm at 4:14 PM on April 20, 2011
this is so terrible, it really just cranks my impotent rage at Gadhafi to the redline. I cannot imagine the guts and dedication it must take to go into such places over and over again because YOU WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW. and 41 is just far too young to die. I find myself very eager for Mummar to get taken down, soon. posted by supermedusa at 4:32 PM on April 20, 2011
Wow. Such a brave, talented, journalist and an unusually perceptive artist. Such a loss for the world. posted by clockzero at 4:34 PM on April 20, 2011
...Absolutely nothing. posted by panaceanot at 4:45 PM on April 20, 2011
Restrepo is fantastic. I had the privilege of hearing Hetherington speak after the film screened at last year's SF International Film Festival and his accounts of what he and Junger went through while filming were sobering. He told the story of how he broke his leg during the big firefight/operation featured in the film and made it back to base along with the rest of the unit. He had to hike for hours in the dark carrying his gear in the middle of the night while under fire and not slow everyone else down. The guy was unassuming and soft spoken but man was he hardcore.
It's some small consolation that he died doing a job which he was obviously committed to and which he did very well.
We see war through the eyes of photographers; it is so shocking when one of those lights goes out because part of us dies with him. A brave and driven creative person like that. His loss is our loss. All of us who must, absolutely must, seek the truth and ultimate waste of conflict.
For those who just know Hetherington from "Restrepo", it's good to note that he also worked on "The Devil Came on Horseback" and photographed Liberian LURD rebels for "Liberia: An Uncivil War" (which earned him an execution order from Charles Taylor), and also did amazing photojournalism work in places like Guinea, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and more.
Tim was a guy I respected greatly; his work was both dangerous and very important and he put himself at immense risk to bring us more of the real story during armed conflicts around the world.
When people ask where the last vanguards of real journalism, I would point to guys like Tim. This has been one of the harder losses for me to take in quite some time... posted by rollbiz at 6:06 PM on April 20, 2011 [5 favorites]
Devastating. He had a tremendous sensibility. I have no sufficient words to convey my respect for what he did, my awe at his talent and devotion, or my sadness at his being killed. posted by penduluum at 6:41 PM on April 20, 2011
That is just an awful, awful picture. My god I just want to hug someone. posted by cashman at 7:06 PM on April 20, 2011
Such a sad day. I never met Hetherington or Hondros, but people I know who were their friends say they were some of the best in the business. Guy Martin, Michael Christopher Brown, and Andre Liohn were also in the attack, and all seem to have a good chance of surviving. It was surreal watching this news unfold on facebook, starting with Andre's initial facebook post from the hospital where everyone is being treated, especially as it seemed like Chris was going to pull through. Here are some remembrances and memorials from those who knew them or worked with them, in no particular order:
Oh, and one more link. Here's CPJ's up-to-date account of attacks on journalists in Libya. While no conflict is easy to cover, Libya's been particularly bad for journalists. posted by msbrauer at 7:27 PM on April 20, 2011
Fantastic comment, msbrauer. I just wanted to thank you for it. posted by rollbiz at 7:33 PM on April 20, 2011
41, same age as me. old enough to have had a full life, young enough to have lots more life to live, wise enough to know just how much more you could do with it.
Chris was a friend of friends. They worked, studied, traveled and just hung out with him. They worried for him, often. His pictures speak for themselves and of his talent, beautifully. His friends speak of him, his generosity and magnetic personality just as eloquently and beautifully. This is a loss for us all. posted by Shike at 6:29 AM on April 21, 2011
Here's a story by Hondros about trying to figure out the name of the Liberian commander in one of his most well-known pictures. Hondros helped him go to school. posted by msbrauer at 8:28 AM on April 21, 2011
It's a beautiful, very moving piece of work.
.
posted by Flashman at 3:27 PM on April 20, 2011 [6 favorites]