A tragedy and a loss to journalism and to an informed public.
His work was fierce. If you haven’t already, buy Restrepo, buy Infidel.
In 2007 he won the World Press Photo award for one of his shots from Afghanistan.
I was privileged to meet him once, at a premiere for Restrepo last year here in LA. He had such a huge heart and was such a gentleman. He was asked why he kept going back into conflict zones, and he struggled to answer because he had not yet emotionally recovered from his previous time in. He had that need to champion people who had no voice and to show the world the things we should be paying attention to. His last tweet yesterday announced his arrival in Misrata.
His last tweet… I cannot believe that such a powerful voice has been silenced.
Vanity Fair article about his death.
*****
UPDATE:
Hetherington Family Releases Statement on Tim’s Death
by Vanity Fair
April 20, 2011, 4:30 PM
Photograph by Matt Stuart.
The following statement was released to Vanity Fair from the family of contributing photographer Tim Hetherington:
It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington, was killed today in Misrata, Libya by a rocket-propelled grenade. Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy Award–nominated documentary “Restrepo,” which he co-produced with his friend Sebastian Junger.
Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict. He will be forever missed.
*****
So sad. I never saw any of his work, but it sounds like he was a truly wonderful reporter and human being. He certainly made the most of the time he had on this earth… not all of us do.
I had not seen Tim’s work. I know that the work he did was for truth and humanity. He lived many lifetimes. My thoughts are for his family there grief. Tim would have thought about death many times never knowing when.