When photography is a hobby it is easy to forget that for some it can be a matter of
life and death. A grim reminder of how dangerous a livelihood it is for those who
ply their trade in war zones came when I went for a cup of coffee in the Flower Market
this afternoon. Picking up the glossy supplements from the Sunday Times, I was
faced with a feature on Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, the two photographers
killed in Libya last month.
While people like Robert Fisk, John Pilger and Don McCullin were among my
heros when I was studying journalism at college, I knew that I would never be
brave enough to want to go to conflict zones. It's the rare few who risk their
lives to tell the world what is happening in places like Afganistan, Libya, Israel,
or wherever the conflict erupts.