Week 8 EOC: Bang Bang Club

“There was lots of outgoing fire,” he said. “No one tells you how dramatic massive amounts of machine gun fire is. In photos you just see the puff from the barrel. But when you are there, it’s incredibly shocking and dramatic. I realized that, as someone who was very green, I could not handle the outgoing, much less the incoming. So I decided it was best to leave it to the guys who know what they are doing. I thought, ‘I should leave this to someone with insurance and a guarantee to publish the pics.’ As a freelancer, I just could not do it.” (http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/young-in-libya/, Ty Cacek)

I found the movie “The Bang Bang Club” to be exceptionally well done. The being based on a true story, made it even better for me. The movie was able to portray the true-life experiences of four combat photographers capturing the final days of apartheid in South Africa. From the highs of winning three Pulitzer Prizes to the lows of a suicide and a murder amongst the group. The movie stays on focus showing you how harrowing the life of a Conflict Photographer could be.

"It's a very intimate thing," said Lyon. "What we're talking about here, in essence, is a relationship — a relationship with danger, a relationship with death, in some cases. A relationship with adrenaline. A relationship with intensity of experience. (http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/05/09/136053477/the-perilous-job-of-conflict-photography, Santiago Lyon is director of photography for The Associated Press)

Being that I have been in situations where I have shot at and experiences from growing, I think I could actually work as a Conflict Photographer. In fact it actually has stirred an interest and I will investigate the possibilities in the near future with my graduation coming up. I would do it for the sake of bring the news and conflict to the people, you can keep the awards, well maybe not the award money.

"Breaking News Photography, previously called Spot News Photography – for a distinguished example of breaking news photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence, or an album." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize)