restrepo

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/world/africa/21photographers.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss


I guess I should start with Tim Hetherington's work. His acclaimed photography and oscar nominated film (which SHOULD HAVE WON) strikes at the very core of conflict- Hetherington offered us a glimmer of humanity among the constant barrage of unpronounceable cities and piles of statistics. His courage was astounding.

More than his courage, his passion for his art is what truly inspires me. Here is a man so passionate about his life's work that he risks everything to produce it. In the words of this article, "he lived for this. And this sort of thing did not faze him. It’s what gave him life, and it’s what took it away from him.”

I hope I can live my life with such passion and courage in every endeavor.
RIP Tim Hetherington

passion in close up

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/04/11/movies/100000000769791/passionjoanarc.html?ref=movies

this was a great little review of The Passion of Joan of Arc, one of my favorite films. Its the sort that you really need to see on a massive screen in absolute darkness. It is unbelievably moving despite its lack of spoken dialogue and sluggish plot- the film itself is a trial, much like what Joan is experiencing. By filming Joan in extreme close up (the first time an actress was filmed as such, and never before with so much passion) the director was able to focus the audience attention not on the plot, but on the conflict of terror and conviction in the young girl's face.

I once heard that before film, the only people to see a your face in close up are your mother and your lover. We take the intimacy of the close up for granted now- imagine the vulnerability this actress experienced, allowing a huge camera with a short focus to film just inches from her face, while still being able to convey all the emotion she did.

It would be very interesting to see this barrier of voyeuristic intimacy restored and then destroyed in a contemporary film...