Shooting Under Fire: The World of the War Photographer [Hardcover]

Peter Howe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2002

Shooting Under Fire is the candid testimony and stunning photographs of the men and women who go into battle armed only with a camera to show warfare as it is and where it is. In this volume, ten leading combat photographers relate incidents of horror, humor, bravery, and daring in locations from Vietnam to Haiti, Ramallah to Chechnya, El Salvador to Sarajevo, the World Trade Center to Afghanistan. Here, in their own words, are their stories of life in the combat zone, together with many of the powerful images they risked their lives to obtain. This historical and very human look at the pathos of war also reveals the moral and ethical issues that this elite corps of photographers face, and the decisions they must make in the chaos of conflict. In addition to the works of these talented photographers are iconic images, from the American Civil War to the devastation of the World Trade Center, that tell the story of the development of combat photography and the profound changes in warfare itself that have occurred in the last century and a half.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bringing together the work of 10 extraordinary photographers, this master's class on war photography includes more than 150 b&w and color photos, annotated with descriptions of their subjects and with very personal reflections from practitioners like magazine contract photographers James Nachtwey (Time) and Ron Haviv (Newsweek) about the nature of their work. A former war photographer in Northern Ireland and El Salvador, Howe, in his illustrated introductory essay, offers first-hand knowledge of the addictive nature of violence and the voyeurism inherent in the business. And as former picture editor for the New York Times Magazine and director of photography for Life, he is also able to lay bare the mechanism by which an image tells a story. The featured photographers then join the chorus one by one. Haviv says the work is "completely selfish," in that it takes him into the history of a country, but he also talks about the role of war photography in helping people. MacArthur Fellowship winner Susan Meiselas explains: "I don't have any doubt that what propels you into these powerful situations is the feeling that whatever you're bringing home is evidence of something of tremendous significance." Her photographs of the execution of Maryknolls nuns in San Salvador are now part of the civil case filed against two members of the government at the time. On the whole, the images-of murders, torture, ruins, hooded paramilitary militias, dead soldiers and civilians, burning vehicles, scarred victims, fleeing refugees-are brutal. At the same time, the stories these photographers tell, and the images they republish here, focus the world's attention on war's atrocities at a crucial moment.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-An introduction and brief history of war photography precede individual observations by "ten of the most famous living photographers," male and female, that convey both the horrors and the highs associated with their profession. The contributors speak of the fear, shame, and other emotional obstacles to taking a specific shot ("How can I photograph this? How can I not?"), and of the guilt they feel at being able to escape the violence and suffering they witness. More than 150 black-and-white and color photos taken in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Biafra, Beirut, Belfast, etc.-some that cannot be viewed without wincing-accompany the pieces. Repeatedly, the contributors express a need to understand conflict and to make events known in the hope that they are not only documenting history but also helping to change it. With world events continuing to provide abundant subject matter, readers of Howe's book are reminded that, allowed unfettered access, combat photographers "are among civilization's best allies."
Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Artisan (November 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579652158
• ISBN-13: 978-1579652159
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Howe is the author of Waggit's Tale, which was his first book for children. The second book in the series, Waggit Again, was published by Harper Collins on April 28th, and a third, Waggit Forever was published in the Spring of 2010. A fantasy called Warriors of the Black Shroud will appear at the beginning of 2012. He was born in London, lived in New York for more than thirty years, and currently resides in Connecticut with his wife and two dogs. He is a former New York Times Magazine and Life magazine picture editor, and the author of two books on photography: Shooting Under Fire and Paparazzi.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of War, March 10, 2003

By 

Kevin Cosgrove (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shooting Under Fire: The World of the War Photographer (Hardcover)

Peter Howe has carefully crafted a stunning book. He combines the images of 10 renowned combat photographers with a stark, spare, and candid narrative, as each describes their work.
The book succeeds at many levels. Idealism, adrenaline and ambition are sometimes countered by regret. The photographers are complex and complicated. Some have been wounded -one deliberately by an Israeli soldier, it's alleged- all are battle hardened, streetwise and changed. The reality of war; blood in the snow; dying men; chilling bravado; starving children; crumbled buildings; is on every page. We know what war is like because the photographers are there for us.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Startling insights, May 30, 2003

By 

J. Gifford (Las Vegas NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting Under Fire: The World of the War Photographer (Hardcover)

It's not the photos in this book that captured me -- yes they're astounding, but I've seen many of them before -- it's the journalists' write-ups beside the photos that I found intriguing. I never realized before the angst that haunts war photographers, the guilt that plagues them when they file their photos and stories with their editors. They make money on other people's suffering, yet their photos often help the people who suffer by informing the world of what's going on. But for the most part they can't help the one person they've captured so brilliantly in one frozen moment in time, and because of that many can't sleep at night. They make the world a better, safer place, and pay for it with damaged psyches.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving, insightful tribute, December 4, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shooting Under Fire: The World of the War Photographer (Hardcover)

Peter Howe has assembled a powerful, moving collection of war photographs combined with the recollections of the photographers who made the pictures. At a time when we are on the verge of entering a conflict much like the conflicts covered by these photographers, "Shooting Under Fire" stands as a startling reminder of the grim, merciless and all-too-human realities of war.