I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.
James NachtweyRead
I don't think tragic situations are necessarily devoid of beauty.
Interpretation
Tragic situations can hold an unexpected beauty that reveals deeper truths about life.
This quote suggests that even in the midst of tragedy, there exists a certain beauty that can arise, prompting us to reflect on the complexities of human experiences. It encourages us to look beyond the surface of sorrow and despair, recognizing that from even the darkest moments can emerge profound insights and delicate nuances that highlight the resilience of the human spirit.
In practice
In a speech about resilience after natural disasters.
I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.
I became a photographer in order to be a war photographer, and a photographer involved in what I thought were critical social issues. From the very beginning this was my goal.
I try to use whatever I know about photography to be of service to the people I'm photographing.
If you want to connect with people who are in distress and great grief and scared, you need to do it in a certain way. I move kind of slow. I talk kind of slow. I let them know that I respect them.
[Photography] puts a human face on issues which, from afar, can appear abstract or ideological or monumental in their global impact.
If Im feeling outraged, grief, disbelief, frustration, sympathy, that gets channeled through me and into my pictures and hopefully transmitted to the viewer.
It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept.
Today, in American imperialism, the commodity has reached its most grandiose historical manifestation.
To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.
Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth.
Silence is the nest and music is the bird. The bird leaves the nest early in the morning and returns to the nest in the evening. Similarly, in the spiritual world, divine music comes from the inmost soul of Silence.
I am hopeful, though not full of hope, and the only reason I don't believe in happy endings is because I don't believe in endings.
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