There are two new Tim Hetherington biographies coming out soon.

Longtime friend and collaborator Sebastian Junger created a film documentary called Which Way Is the Front Line From Here: The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington. The film premiered last week at Sundance to favorable reviews. HBO will air the film on April 18 of this year.

“Huffman recounts Hetherington’s career in chapters that expand on the many conflicts the photographer covered: the Liberian civil war; the genocide in Sudan and its spillover into Chad; the American occupation of Afghanistan. His point, though not stated explicitly, seems to be that you can’t understand Hetherington without understanding the violence he was drawn to document. Huffman succeeds in immersing us in Hetherington’s daily reality while in conflict zones, and many excellent interviews with friends and colleagues add a personal dimension to the photographer’s extraordinary life.” -Unfinished business: A new biography of photojournalist Tim Hetherington reflects on a too-short career, Columbia Journalism Review – Jan 2, 2013

Alan Huffman’s print biography of Hetherington, Here I Am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, War Photographer, will be published this March. The book recounts Hetherington’s life through the conflicts he photographed. The Columbia Journalism Review has a review of the book worth reading. The book is available for pre-order at Amazon.

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.

Magnum has become the overseer of much of Tim Hetherington’s photography, and you can see some 480 of his pictures there now. And while this is a departure from Hetherington’s previous relationship with Panos Pictures, BJP reports that the new arrangement is in line with Hetherington’s and his family’s wishes.

Also of note, Magnum has been distributing an archive of Libyan secret service video and photographs that was recovered by Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch and given to Hetherington and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak to determine the best way to preserve and distribute the materials. The work is credited “Collection Thomas Dworzak for Human Rights Watch” in the Magnum archive (here’s a few example images, though I imagine better scans will eventually be available), despite the involvement of Hetherington and Bouckaert in the find. David Campbell questioned this credit and the notion of licensing such images for money, and Magnum released a statement in response.

Lens has also recently compiled some of Hetherington’s work from Libya and links to recent remembrances of and interviews with him, including a reminder of Hetherington’s excellent book: Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold. World Press Photo has also begun an annual grant in Hetherington’s name. There is also a Tim Hetherington memorial fund designed to further the education of students at the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Sierra Leone. The Chris Hondros Fund has also been set up to continue the legacy of Hondros, who was killed alongside Hetherington in Libya six months ago. Please consider making a donation.

And if you’re in New York today, you can go to the opening of Visions: Tim Hetherington at the Bronx Documentary Center (614 Courtlandt Ave., Bronx, NY).

Meanwhile, condolences for Tim continue to be posted at timhetherington.org.

(Tim Hetherington previously on dvafoto)

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.

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.

Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger’s documentary about one American platoon fighting in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, has been picked up for distribution and will be shown in theaters starting in summer 2010. The movie’s website has information on screenings, and the trailer is available to watch online.

“I’ve never seen myself as a war photographer. This is about narrative. I’m very open to any visual conceits and any possibilities at my disposal to better explain to people the ideas I’m exploring. I like art photography, I like still life, I like war photography. I like to include everything to weave a tapestry to explain to someone, ‘What happened?’” -Tim Hetherington

There’s a short and interesting interview with Tim Hetherington over at Scarlett Lion’s Liberia blog. Hetherington, who won the 2007 World Press Photo award, discusses his work on Liberia beginning with the 2003 battle for Monrovia; the pictures, which were part of Moving Walls 11, have just been published in “Long Story, Bit by Bit” by Umbrage. And, my rss reader just tells me, Art Buyer Heather Morton will be interviewing Hetherington tomorrow at the New York Photo Festival, so now’s a good opportunity to get questions in to him through her blog.

The book is also available on Amazon, though only 5 are left as of this writing.

And, if you’re in New York City on May 22, as we mentioned a couple days ago, you can hear Tim Hetherington in conversation with Gary Knight and Stephen Mayes on the subject of war and conflict photography. Friday, May 22, at 6:30pm at the VII Gallery in DUMBO, Brooklyn (28 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201).

From Amongst the Poor by Gary Knight

Dispatches (which I’ve never held in my hands, but which I know in print has to be even better than the incomparable essays and photojournalism on the magazine’s site) never ceases to amaze. Amber, one of the dynamos behind the scenes of the operation, just emailed to let us know about a couple of events coinciding with the release of the 4th issue, “Out of Poverty.” I’m jealous I can’t be there for the talk and also to see the VII offices and gallery, which is a big step up from the tiny 2.5-desk office on the campus of the Fashion Institute of Technology when I was there…

First, Thursday, May 21, at 7p.m. at the VII Gallery in DUMBO, Brooklyn (28 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201), Gary Knight will present a slideshow and discuss the images published in “Out of Poverty.” The work presented will come from his recent work on poverty in India, which does not disappoint. Members of the public are invited to bring images of poverty on USB devices to print and hang on one wall of the gallery.

The next night, Friday, May 22, at 6:30pm at the VII Gallery, Gary Knight, World Press winner Tim Hetherington, and VII agency director Stephen Mayes, will “discuss war photography and representations of conflict.”