James Nachtwey

Today while I was in the library, I saw a collection of "Time" magazines on the coffee table, and the one that jumped out to me had this headline: "Haiti: The Aftermath. Words and Photos by James Nachtwey." I've seen some of his work before and picked it up out of curiosity. His pictures were absolutely incredible. This man has a gift unlike anything I've ever seen. However, this time, it wasn't his pictures that touched me but his words. This is part of what he had to say:

"As a photojournalist, I've been involved in documenting the history of the past 30 years, and much of my work has focused on wars, conflicts, and social injustice. It's been fueled by anger, driven by the belief that if people are informed, they will be inspired by compassion and will share a sense of outrage at violence, aggression, and the unacceptable deprivation of fundamental human rights. Those issues are all man-made, and anger can jump-start the process of change. An earthquake is an act of nature. Tens of thousands die in a few minutes. Who is to blame? Regime change is not an option. How can anger be directed at the earth itself? Compassion is the ultimate motivation in a natural catastrophe...

The challenge is to maintain it for the long haul, not allow it to die with the headlines."