A conversation on Twitter a while ago inspired me to write this blog post. I’ve been asked by several people, mainly photographers, if I know any good documentaries involving photography and/or photographers. Well, I do. And instead of answering their questions each time (which I don’t mind by the way), I decided to write a series of blog posts about my favourite documentaries.
I don’t have one particular favourite, so the order in which I list them is random.
War Photographer
A good place to start, since it’s probably the most known one of its kind. Director Christian Frei made this award-winning documentary about James Nachtwey. You’ll likely know who Nachtwey is, but just to be sure: he’s probably the most famous war photographer still alive. Some even consider them the best war photographer ever, but I’m always reluctant to compare one photographer to another.
It’s a very interesting report about Nachtwey’s work, and war photography in general. It’s very intimate and, at times, very shocking. The footage that touched me the most is filmed in Indonesia. Nachtwey photographs an Indonesian family living in a slum next to a railroad. The man in the family got drunk and got run over by a train that night. He lost an arm and a leg, but he’s still doing his best to support his family.
Frei placed a video camera on the (analog) SLR Nachtwey is using. That way, you’ll see exactly what he’s seeing when taking photographs. This really adds an interesting new perspective to the documentary.
The only downside for me is that Nachtwey doesn’t really open up about personal stuff. I’m personally very interested what this amount of misery does to a human being. But I’ve never seen an interview where Nachtwey opens up about that.
War Photographer is nonetheless a must-see, and a good place to get started if you’re interested in documentaries about photojournalism in particular.
IMDb – Dedicated Website
Born Into Brothels
This one is very intriguing. Photographer Zana Briski teaches photography to children living in Calcutta’s red light district. It’s amazing to see what those kids can do with their tiny point-and-shoot cameras. They have no fear, no shame, and their vision isn’t polluted by being exposed to the thousands of photographs we’re used to in the Western world.
On top of that, Briski acts like some sort of a social worker for those kids. She tries to get them into school so that they won’t go into prostitution like their mothers or become drug addicts like their fathers.
It’s astonishing to see how those parents handle their kids. If they have any love for their offspring, it’s very well concealed…
The documentary is a hard one. It places most of ‘our’ problems in perspective again. It gives great insight in a world we rarely get to see this close.
IMDb
Shooting Robert King / Blood Trail
Last but not least is Shooting Robert King (or Blood Trail, it’s the same thing). To be honest, I never heard of Robert King since a couple of weeks ago. I had seen some of his photos, I just didn’t know they were his. King is a war/conflict photographer, that started his career in his early twenties.
If I had to summarize this documentary in one word, it would be ‘frustration’. It shows that being a war photographer, or a photojournalist in general, is really frustrating work. In his early years he mainly struggled with getting his work published. He spends all his savings to go to his first war, in Bosnia. He works his ass off, without getting any publications in the first months.
This film also shows the dark side of war photography. King gets very depressed after his first wars, and develops an addiction to drugs, booze and sex. He shares a lot more information about his personal life and his personal struggles than Nachtwey does. War Photographer and Shooting Robert King complement each other on this level.
IMDb – Dedicated Website
Well, this are my first three recommendations. Feel free to discuss any of the films in the comment section. I would love to hear your thoughts!
This entry was written by , posted on September 5, 2010 at 19:48, filed under Documentary, Photojournalism, Review, Series and tagged documentary, Review, war. RSS feed for this post.
[...] second part of my documentary recommendation series. If you missed the previous one, check it out over here. In my previous post, I also explained why I’m writing [...]