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Photo Book Reviews

Shooting Under Fire (Artisan Publishers) by Peter Howe Reviewed by Tina Maas Article rating: 10.00

In this book Peter Howe brings together the dramatic work and fascinating comments of 10 world renowned war photographers. Aside from the highly prized photographs, what really makes this book distinct and special are the first hand accounts of the photographers themselves, their personal impressions and moral struggles.

Having been an award winning photographer for many years himself, Howe went on to work as a picture editor for the New York Times magazine as well as offering his consulting expertise as director of photography for Life magazine and Corbis. He did a wonderful job compiling these extraordinary, unheard stories and memories together with an impressive collection of the most stunning war photographs that we have seen in the last century featuring the work of James Nachtwey, Ron Haviv, Susan Meiselas, Don McCullin and Maggie Steber amongst others.

In "Shooting Under Fire" they are given a voice that is normally silenced given that the interpretation of their world-changing and sometimes disturbing photographs is usually somebody else's expertise. In this book they speak out about the actual experiences on their assignments, what war is really like, how it gets addictive and how it has left its scarring mark on them.

Each photographer provides a compelling commentary on their strongest or most controversial pictures, putting the photographs in perspective and filling us in on the day it was taken and what happened just moments before and after the shutter was released.

The overall picture that emerges from their work is one far removed from glory and adventure but is painted rather grim and desolate, like the places they covered and the people whose fate they photographed. The short essays are most intriguing to read; knowing about the authenticity of the source one can get a taste of the intoxication and imagine their adrenaline rush when faced with mortal danger.

The pictures depict deeply felt human emotions from despair, mourning and tragedy to bravery, companionship and hope taken in varied locations such as Vietnam, Israel, Chechnya and Afghanistan to mention just a few. In their brave testimonies the photographers attempt to answer to feelings of accusation, contemplate dilemmas of purpose and justice and mourn their dead photographer friends; but overall they pay a tribute to the medium that made them famous.

The stories are written very compellingly and are extremely fascinating because every photographer picks up on another aspect of their brave and overwhelming task, which, when seen as a whole, allows the complex and multi-faceted picture of the true life of a combat photographer to emerge.

>>Click here to purchase Shooting Under Fire from Amazon.com

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