This picture is by Tyler Hicks for the New York Times. It's such a macho reporter fantasy to be embedded, and it reminds me of the kind of tough-nut self-involved culture that can sometimes exist in any front-line volunteerism as well. Can't stop for water! Gotta get this done now! Gotta take my shirt off! Gotta be me!
But then, this multimedia piece - and the accompanying article - from C.J. Chivers coverage of a unit getting ambushed in Afghanistan makes me shut up, lift my head, and sit speechless at what it takes to be a soldier. And that's the point of these journalists risking their lives - our insight/action/engagement. This has got to be one critical function of journalism, and I hope blogging and citizen journalism don't mark the end of fearless reporting like this. Wow.
Have you ever been really afraid? I have, maybe twice. Once when I had to stop, camp, and sleep lost on a solo hike in a desert. And once when I heard shots in a orange grove near where I slept in my car. And I've never been shot at. The chaos, your life flashing in front of you. Now. Take a picture that's in focus and tells the story of that moment, at that moment.
One of my favorite editors once told me that you had to be able to think as an editor without the software impeding the speed of your idea and its execution. You just have to think and do. That must be what Tyler Hicks was doing. Knowing his equipment so well that he could take these images in the midst of what surely was terrifying even for the most seasoned photojournalist.
Click to watch the multimedia once you get to the page - the link wasn't working in my cut-and-paste here.
