Tuesday, September 30, 2008

James Nachtwey

(Sudan, 1993 - Famine victim about to receive water in a feeding center.)

Photographer James Nachtwey is considered, by many, the greatest photojournalist of the past three decades. Many of his images--disturbing, poetic, often haunting-- shame us. Leastwise, they should shame us. They should shame us because the moments they so artfully capture depict the worst of humanity: From the human toll of war to the ravages of disease and famine to the misery of poverty and the atrocious consequences of intolerance.

Nachtwey is the 2007 winner of the TED Prize. In addition to awarding him $100,000, TED offered to grant him one wish to change the world. This was his wish: "I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age."

As a result, on October 3, 2008, James Nachtwey will break a story which highlights a shocking and under-reported global crisis.

Mark the date and URL. My gut tells me this is important.

Special thanks to John Harrington of Photo Business News & Forum for leading me to James Nachtwey's TED presentation and the heads-up on Nachtwey's upcoming story.

Here's James Nachtwey's 2007 TED presentation:

1 comment:

Kevin H. Stecyk said...

JimmyD, Once again, I am thoroughly enjoyed your article. James Nachtwey's presentation was powerful and moving. I will be watching to see what he has to say and show us on October 3rd.