James Nachtwey, a sensitive war photographer

Hera Diani The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The only disappointing thing about longtime war photographer James Nachtwey, 54, is that he can't give a satisfactory answer on how to cope with the tragedy of war.

In a soft and careful tone, and with a faint smile, he tells say that you just have to deal with it.

"I just work it out in my own way. Talk about it with colleagues, deal with it myself. There are many powerful emotions involved and it's easy to become overpowered or paralyzed. I just channel it into my work," Nachtwey said in a recent face-to-face interview.

When asked if he has ever felt afraid at all, he replies: "I know what fear is. It's a very natural emotion. The important thing is to manage it so it doesn't paralyze you."

The American photographer is exceptional in many ways, both in his profession and as a person.

As a war photographer, many consider him the bravest, the best and the busiest. He has not missed a single war anywhere in the world in the past 20 years.

His extensive photographic essays have mostly appeared in Time magazine, as well as in books such as 1989's Deeds of War and 1999's Inferno and exhibitions all over the world.

Beside obvious excellent skill and sensitivity toward his objects, the thing about Nachtwey is that he is prophet-like. Always sporting a white shirt and jeans, with gray hair, he is soft-spoken, rather shy and very well-mannered.

It was his composure that won the heart of Switzerland film director Christian Frei. Frei made a documentary about Nachtwey titled War Photographer, which received an Academy Award nomination this year.

"He's very committed and brave but hardly fits the cliche of the hard boiled war veteran," Frei said.

Nachtwey and Frei were here to attend the screening of the film at the Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest). A touching scene occurred when they were reunited with Sumarno, a handicapped man who in 1999 was a subject of Nachtwey's photo essay.

Previously living with his family along a railroad track, Sumarno and his family now led a better life, thanks to people's generosity after seeing Nachtwey's photographs.

Nachtwey, however, refused to talk about the details, saying that: "I want to be modest about it. Besides, it's no good for Sumarno to receive such publicity."

Struck by images of the Vietnam War and the American Civil Rights movement, Nachtwey decided to become a war photographer, with his first assignment being the IRA hunger strike in Northern Ireland in 1981. After that, he was unstoppable.

A contract photographer with Time since 1984, he has devoted himself to documenting not only wars and conflicts but also critical social issues all over the world.

"I want to continue the tradition where photography has a social impact. To create pictures powerful enough to overcome the diluting effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference," he said.

Nachtwey has received numerous honors, such as the Robert Capa Gold Medal (five times), the World Press Photo Award (twice), Magazine Photographer of the Year (six times) and many others.

One of the honors from the World Press Photo Award was an image of a lynching in Ketapang, West Jakarta, in November 1998. It was a frightening shot of a man looking straight at the camera while slaughtering another man lying on the ground.

While aware of the possibility of getting killed, Nachtwey tried to persuade the man not to kill the other, which of course failed.

Nevertheless, he stayed and took a shot, remembering photographer Robert Capa saying: "If your picture's not good enough, you're not close enough."

The most horrifying crime against humanity that he has ever encountered, however, was the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where an estimated 800,000 minority Tutsi people were slaughtered by Hutu militia.

"It was probably the most incomprehensible story. It was impossible for me to understand. I was very depressed after that for a long time. It was very hard to recover," he sighed.

However depressing, Nachtwey never indulges in escapism to forget the terrible things he sees. Hans-Hermann Klare, the foreign editor of German-based STERN magazine, commented in the film that while Nachtwey's colleagues were having a cold beer after work, he would just sip a glass of water and then go to sleep.

"Well, I don't have any particular crutches," he laughed faintly. "I'm a human being, I enjoy other people, friends, family. I don't have any escape route. I don't use drugs or drink too much or anything like that. I enjoy things that normal people enjoy."

But he denied Klare's claim that as a long time war photographer, Nachtwey is in danger of feeling bulletproof.

"That's exaggerating," he smiled. "I don't feel bulletproof at all. I think he (Klare) was concerned about me, and it's very nice of him. But I understand that what happened to people around me can happen to me too."

Nachtwey has been hit with shrapnel three times, beaten by police and certainly had many close calls where people near him were killed.

However, the most significant effect of the war to him physically is the gradual loss of hearing, due to continuous exposure to the sound of explosions.

"It started back in the 1980s, but it's getting a little worse now. I can hear you now because we're in a quiet room. But like in the screening, with a lot of people in the room and background music, I can't hear them.

"It's not totally gone, but it's very impaired. It sometimes can be a little dangerous because sometimes I don't hear the bullet," he said calmly.

Will he continue? He nodded firmly, saying there is a purpose to his work, that is to make a change.

"It's a role as a visual historian. The value to show people what's happening. I choose this position to commit myself," said Nachtwey, who admires late American photographer W. Eugene Smith.

His commitment is also due to the fact that the media gives too much attention to lifestyle, celebrities, fashion and entertainment.

For the commitment also, he chose to stay single.

"I've chosen to push myself very hard continuously. It would've been very difficult for me to become a family man and do the work to the extent that I've done it," said Nachtwey, who runs Seven agency with six other photographers.

How does he maintain his energy and sense of humanity?

"I try to eat well, stay healthy. The sense of humanity comes from being involved with people. I'm inspired by people I once witnessed, like Sumarno. I'm inspired when seeing them struggling and enduring in terrible circumstances while maintaining love for each other.

"Do I ever get numb? Quite the opposite. I get more sensitized."