Response to documentary

In many ways, watching the documentary made me rethink the way photography can function. I’ve always felt that photographs can be one of the strongest tools of social change because of the directness they offer to the viewer of the scene at hand. However, I’ve never let myself believe, as Nachtway has, that photography can end war because it is the “opposite of war.” Watching the film gave me a sense that if photographers are given the ability in a more widespread way to show the public a war scene, they can have a major impact on public consciousness and led people to push for change.
As a viewer, I was intrigued by Nachtway’s quiet, yet actively engaged disposition. While at first, I was a bit repulsed by the way Nachtway took pictures while watching a woman sob, after watching more of the piece, I came to understand not only his photographs, but also his philosophy better. He sees photography as a means of saying “this is what’s happening” and “I am part of this.” It is through the complicity of people involved in his photographs that Nachtway is able show the rest of the word what’s going on around them in a way that the mainstream media does not want them to see. And it is through pushing himself to take photographs that might be uncomfortable to take that he is able to make his viewers uncomfortable in turn and much less likely to look the other way.
Overall, I got a sense that Nachtway leads a graceful and honest life in a profession that often leads many to lack compassion in pursuit of getting a great, sellable shot of tragedy. I believed him when he said “through photography, I’ve discovered the world and myself” because you can see in his works that photography has led him to explore and challenge himself mentally, emotionally and physically. His photographs are not just mere things, they are embodiments of the stories going on around him in the world and his responses to them.
What I was left with were Nachtway’s words that “it’s difficult to give people something that is not an escape from reality, but more of an immersion into reality.” As a whole, western civilization is moving more and more towards the pursuit of things, status, and image and less towards looking at the deeper issues around us. Its much easier to look at an ad for shoes than it is of the face of a starving child and, in many ways, we are left feeling helpless when we are constantly being fed that shock us. Still, I think Nachtway’s aim is a good one. He believes that the public deserves more and he aims to give them it. He struggles to bring to light what so often is hidden. Ultimately, he questions what he is doing to help and he risks his life not to capture a shot, but to capture a story.