Magnum, who now distribute Tim Hetherington’s work (not without controversy), have just made available in their archive The Libya Negs: Tim Hetherington’s Last Images. Included in the selection is an image captioned “LIBYA. Misurata. April 20, 2011. Tim’s last photograph.” (screenshot above). Some of these photos were published by Newsweek earlier.

Hetherington was killed alongside Chris Hondros last April while working in Libya. Consider contributing to the Chris Hondros Fund or the organizations listed here.

More than anything though, Tim’s photos speak to what it means to be a man and how war often defines masculinity. “Photography is great at representing the hardware of the war machine,” he told his good friend and writer Stephen Mayes, a month before he died. “But the truth is that the war machine is the software, as much as the hardware. The software runs it, and the software is young men. I’m not so young anymore. But I get it. That’s really what my work is about.” -Newsweek editor James Wellford

Newsweek has just published Tim Hetherington’s final images, from Libya in April 2011. Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed in Misrata, Libya, on April 20, 2011 (Remembrances).

Last week saw the release of snippets of video from a treasure trove of video and stills from the early days of Gaddafi found by Hetherington and Human Rights Watch researcher Peter Bouckaert after a Libyan state security office was burned and looted by protesters.

“It all happened in a split second. We thought we were in the crossfire. But, eventually, we realized they were shooting at us. You could see and hear the bullets hitting the ground near us.” -James Foley, speaking to Global Post

Very sad news over the weekend as the world learned that photojournalist Anton Hammerl was killed in Libya in early April. Hammerl went missing in Libya in early April 2011 (previously on dvafoto), along with three other journalists, but there was no information about his whereabouts or condition. Late last week, word reached Hammerl’s family that the photographer was shot in early April and later died of his wounds. In the message posted to the Free photographer Anton Hammerl group on Facebook, the Hammerl family reports, “On 5 April 2011 Anton was shot by Gaddafi’s forces in an extremely remote location in the Libyan desert. According to eyewitnesses, his injuries were such that he could not have survived without medical attention.” On Hammerl’s photoshelter page, there’s a set of some of the photographer’s last-uploaded images from the war in Libya.

Donations to support the family of Anton Hammerl are being accepted through FreeFoley.org.

Accounts of Hammerl’s last moments, as well as remembrances and memorials have been appearing online. Below is a list of a few such accounts:

• British High Commissioner releases a statement on the death of South African photographer, Anton Hammerl
• Remembering Anton Hammerl
• Missing Photographer in Libya Is Presumed Dead
• And here’s to you, Anton!…by Edgar Martins
• An astute, thoughtful lensman: South African photographer killed in the Libyan desert had an artist’s eye
• The calling ~ IM Anton Hammerl ~
• Rights groups call for release of photographer’s body, investigation
• A Day Under Fire with Anton
• Libya: Release Body of South African Photojournalist
• Anton Hammerl Dead: Photojournalist Killed In Libya
• Hamba Kahle Anton
• Remembering Anton Hammerl and His Work in Libya
• Safrea calls for formal investigation into Hammerl case
• Photographer tells of desert ordeal
• Reporters’ release tempered by news of colleague’s death
• Anton Hammerl is dead – family
• Anton Hammerl Is Still Missing in Libya

At this week’s World Press Photo awards ceremony, winner Jodi Bieber called for the safe return of South African photographer Anton Hammerl, who was taken by pro-Gaddafi forces on April 5, 2011. According to CPJ, the South African government was told on April 22 that Hammerl was healthy and would be able to speak to his family soon. Since then, nothing has been heard about his whereabouts, health, or the conditions of his detainment. Other journalists detained at the same time, Clare Morgana Gillis, James Wright Foley and Manu Brabo, have been able to contact their families, but Hammerl’s family has heard nothing. His family has renewed efforts to contact him. Friends of the photographer have set up a facebook page to spread word about his situation.

Hammerl’s work can be seen at his website.

I remember my mother pulling a picture out of our local Seattle Times newspaper for me, running large on the third page. A news picture tucked inside the paper, sitting on its own, was odd to see. It was as if the editors thought they had to get a great picture published even if it wasn’t ‘newsworthy’ for a local paper. I was blown away, I’m sure I said outloud that this picture would win a Pulitzer. This was in July 2003, right after I had graduated high school and a month before I started college, where I would begin working at the newspaper and start in photojournalism. The picture was of a soldier in Liberia celebrating his skills on the battlefield, shot by Chris Hondros for Getty Images. I’m sure it was the most important image I had seen up until that point in my life.

Hondros didn’t win a Pulitzer year, but his work from Liberia was nominated and this image was honored by World Press Photo. But more important to me is this encounter introduced me to Hondro’s whole body of work and his approach to covering these world stories. His photographs became an obsession for me at that early moment in my career. I thought there was no other photographer who’s job I’d rather work towards. That has changed in the mean time, but I’ve continued to follow his work closely, often checking Getty Editorial just to see what this talented and ballsy photographer was out there working on.

Hondros wrote an update to the story behind this picture on Digital Journalist in 2005: Me and Joseph Duo, and it shows a lot about his perseverance and dedication to his stories. As a young photographer, Hondros’ work helped set me in my own place. He was an example showing how far you need to go before you’re “doing it right” and taking responsibility for the work and the places you find yourself covering. You can start believing that only the photographs matter, until you realize what more important information we learn when we can seek the full story of what is happening in front of us. The ones working towards this goal are how the good ones got great. Hondro’s reputation to me is about commitment to stories for far longer than they are sexy or on front pages. This push, to find outlets for the work you find important even when others dont see, is the sign of a great photographer. Someone we should respect, and miss when they leave us.
I’m mourning his loss and the loss of vital work Hondros and Hetherington could pass on to me or any other of the next generation coming up. I still have dreamed of working alongside him as a colleague and thanking him for the role he played as I was just starting to become interested in photojournalism. I’m sad that I’ll never have the chance to work alongside these two greats, in admiration for what they’ve done for us.

But I am looking forward to showing Guy Martin around Belgrade, as we’ve been long been planning, just as soon as he feels up for it. Last Wednesday, April 20, was terrible day in our industry and amongst our friends. But it will help us see a different, more realistic and fragile world which we run about in. I hope this day lets us think more about what we and all of our friends do. I hope we keep pushing and sharing our experiences with photographs, but please do it in a way that we can come home to our families.

I respect photographers like Tim, Chris, Guy and Michael (and the others who are alongside them there unwounded) for working so hard to get into a dangerous situation they were convinced they needed to report from. Perhaps all their lives were destined to find themselves in Misrata that day, maybe it was just the karma of good deeds balancing out. But I respect that these people were where they needed to be, though we may wish they hadn’t been there. Duckrabbit posted a thoughtful piece about this situation, in concert with David Alan Harvey’s post about Chris and Tim on Burn Magazine. Please have a look at both, and Duckrabbit’s follow-up on the myth-building around war photography that may be coming in the wake of this tragedy. There is no way to fully honor these men with platitudes or upcoming grants in their honor, but I also worry about getting too carried away with romanticization. We are at a moment where everyone is talking about Hondros and Hetherington, every time I turn on the radio or look at a new publication. An honor, but sad that their work is only now getting discussed and only in this detached context. War photography is a hell of a thing.. it has produced so much good and so much senseless death.

Gentlemen, rest well. All of my respect to you both, and to Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown who are recuperating from the same attack. And all the same for the rest of my colleagues and friends who are heading out to front lines tomorrow. It may very well be worth it, to show the rest of us how the world is operating in our name today. Just remember the rest of us back home thinking of you and wishing you well.

___

Information on Service and Funeral for Chris Hondros:

New York Service

Wednesday, Apr 27, Sacred Hearts St. Stephens Church, 1pm
125 Summit Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Tel. (718) 246-8342

http://www.delvecchiorc.com/

Fayetteville Services

Wake – Fri, Apr. 29, Rogers & Breece Funeral Home, 6-8 pm
Funeral – Sat, Apr. 30, St. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 11 am

Regardless of which service you may or may not be able to attend:

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to The Chris Hondros Fund, which will provide scholarships for aspiring photojournalists and raise awareness of issues surrounding conflict photography.

The Chris Hondros Fund
c/o Christina Piaia
50 Bridge Street, No. 414
Brooklyn, NY 11201

I’d never met Hetherington or Hondros, but knew their work well. What’s clear from their work and what’s being written about them after today’s tragic news, though, is that they were among the best in the business. Here are some reflections that have been posted recently about the two (titles have mostly been copied and pasted):

• 2 Great photographers lost today in Libya – doing what they loved to do.
• The Toll Of Covering Conflict
• The News We Dont Want to Report
• Photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros killed in Libya [Updated]
• Recent photos from Misrata by Chris Hondros, including some taken before his death and another gallery of images from the day of his death
• Parting Glance: Tim Hetherington
• Tim Hetherington 1970 – 2011
• Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros Killed in Libya
• CPJ’s report
• IN MEMORIAM: TIM HETHERINGTON
• A TRIBUTE TO TIM HETHERINGTON 1970-2011
• Human Rights Watch on Tim Hetherington
• BagNews on Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington
• Remembering Tim Hetherington
• BJP’s coverage, including a photo of Hondros as he was receiving medical attention after the attack (and here’s a bit of discussion, including from the BJP writer, about the decision to publish that picture)
• A Photojournalist Remembered (Chris Hondros)
• ‘Restrepo’ Partner: War Photographer Tim Hetherington Never Thought Himself Brave: Colleague Sebastian Junger on Friend and Veteran War Photographer Killed in Libya Attack
• Parting Glance: Chris Hondros
• The Integrity of Tim Hetherington
• Tim Hetherington, Chris Hondros Killed in Libya
• Chris Hondros, friend and colleague
• Honoring Hondros and Hetherington
• Tim Hetherington: A Vanity Fair Portfolio
• Remembering Tim Hetherington Through Restrepo
• Tim Hetherington in Memoriam
• Remembering Chris Hondros
• Almost Dawn in Libya: Chris & Tim, Heading Home.
• only the good die young
• Hetherington Family Releases Statement on Tim’s Death
• Liverpool-born war photographer Tim Hetherington killed in Libya
• A Loss in the Family: Photographer Tim Hetherington, 1970–2011.
• Chris Hondros killed in Libya | 4.20.11 (gallery of recent work)
• Update: Me and Joseph Duo by Chris Hondros (Hondros tells the story of finding and helping the Monrovian fighter in his well-known photograph)
• RIP TIM HETHERINGTON AND CHRIS HONDROS
• Tim Hetherington’s Last Interview
• on life and loss, death and photojournalism
• Tim and Chris
• Dear Tim
• Libya War Photographers’ Final Hours
• John Kerry recalls photographer killed in Libya
• The Most Important Rule of Photography
• Chris and Tim
• ‘There Were Four Times When I Could Have Died’
• For What It’s Worth (seems to have an image of the moment John Kerry mentions of seeing Hondros’ images on the campaign trail)
• Photojournalist Chris Hondros: At Work in Misurata, Libya
• Remember Chris Hondros
• In Memory of Chris Hondros
• KIA in the Age of Facebook
• Post-photography: Tim Hetherington’s living legacy
• Brooklyn flag @ half mast @ Brooklyn Borough Hall for Chris and Tim. RIP.
• Sebastian Junger Remembers Tim Hetherington
• Two War Photographers On Their Injuries, Ethics
• GRITtv: Christopher Anderson: Remembering Tim Hetherington
• Testimony from a Colleague: Looking Back at Tim Hetherington’s Liberia
• Chris Hondros in Memoriam
• Bound and Torn by War: Photographers Killed in Libya Called Brooklyn Home; Living in the ‘Kibbutz’
• Remembering Tim Hetherington
• Service Held for Combat Photographers and Doctor Killed in Misurata
• Tim Hetherington’s Diary: The short film that showed where he was going as a director.
• Journalists Killed in Libya, News Breaks on Facebook
• Photojournalists embark on final journey home
• No safe haven for reporters in Libya
• Benghazi port tonight. Libyans show respect&solidarity 4 Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros
• Shooters: The City’s War Photographers Mourn Two of Their Own
• On the Media: War photographers change their focus
• Chris Hondros, RIP: How my best friend died in a combat zone
• A Group of Conflict Photographers Runs Out of Luck
• Libyan Rebels Dedicate Town Square to Journalist Tim Hetherington

We will update with more as we see them. Our thoughts are with their families and friends.

Reports are just coming in confirming the deaths of photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros in Libya. The two were killed while covering fighting in a city called Misrata. ABCNews reports that there were three other photojournalists injured alongside Hondros and Hetherington: Michael Christopher Brown, Andre Liohn and an unknown third. These three are alive.

Our thoughts go out to the families of Hetherington and Hondros and other journalists in danger in Libya and elsewhere.

UPDATE (20 April 2011 – 1:52PM EST): NPPA reports the third journalist injured was Guy Martin. The New York Times reports that Martin is undergoing surgery.

From the pickup, Lynsey saw a body outstretched next to our car, one arm outstretched. We still don’t know whether that was Mohammed [the journalists' driver]. We fear it was, though his body has yet to be found.

If he died, we will have to bear the burden for the rest of our lives that an innocent man died because of us, because of wrong choices that we made, for an article that was never worth dying for.

No article is, but we were too blind to admit that.

-”4 Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality,” New York Times, 22 March 2011

The New York Times has published a harrowing account of the capture and conditions of captivity of Tyler Hicks, Lynsey Addario, Anthony Shadid, and Stephen Farrell, who disappeared last week in Libya. The four were released early this week. Their capture and detention were filled with confusion, brutality, and boredom, and are a grim reminder of the risks that conflict reporters accept in bringing news to the world.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has been keeping an updated account of attacks on journalists in Libya.

Another bit of good news today, as word arrives that Dave Clark, Roberto Schmidt, and Joe Raedle, have been safely released in Libya. The 3 were reported missing on Saturday

A Committee to Protect Journalists report reminds us, however, that they were 3 of 13 reporters currently missing. Let’s hope for more good news in the coming days.

The above is the last known photo of Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, two of four New York Times journalists who have gone missing in Libya. The other two missing are Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and Stephen Farrell, a videographer and reporter who had previously been kidnapped by the Taliban. The New York Times says they have spoken with the Libyan government in Tripoli; Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times says, “We are grateful to the Libyan government for their assurance that if our journalists were captured they would be released promptly and unharmed.” Both Addario and Hicks have recently contributed to the NYT’s Lens blog: At a Deadly, Shifting Front in Libya and In the Thick of Libya’s Brutal Fighting.

We wish for a safe and fast return of the four journalists.

UPDATE (18 March 2011, 9:00am Eastern): In an interview with Christiane Amanpour, Saif Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, says that one journalist will be released soon: “You know, they entered country illegally and when the army, when they liberated the city of Ajdabiyah from the terrorists and they found her there and they arrest her because you know foreigners in this place. But then they were happy because they found out she is American, not European. And thanks to that she will be free tomorrow.”

UPDATE (21 March 2011, 10:47am Eastern) – The four NYT journalists have been released into the custody of Turkish diplomats.