Tim Hetherington

Tim Hetherington

Hetherington in February 2011
Born Timothy Alistair Telemachus Hetherington
5 December 1970
Birkenhead, England, UK[1]
Died 20 April 2011(2011-04-20) (aged 40)
Misrata, Libya
Cause of death Ballistic trauma
Residence New York City, New York, United States[2]
Citizenship United Kingdom
Alma mater

Lady Margaret Hall (University of Oxford)

Cardiff University
Occupation Photojournalist
Years active 1996–2011
Known for Restrepo (2010)
Partner(s) Idil Ibrahim (2010 - 2011)

Timothy Alistair Telemachus "Tim" Hetherington (5 December 1970 – 20 April 2011)[3] was a British photojournalist.[4] He produced books, films and other work that "ranged from multi-screen installations, to fly-poster exhibitions, to handheld device downloads"[5] and was a regular contributor to Vanity Fair.[6]

He was best known for the documentary film Restrepo (2010), which he co-directed with Sebastian Junger. Restrepo won the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at Sundance Film Festival 2010[7] and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2011.[8] Hetherington won various awards including the 2007 World Press Photo of the Year.[9] He was killed by shrapnel from either a mortar shell or an RPG fired by Libyan forces while covering the 2011 Libyan civil war.[10]

Early life

Born to Alistair and Judith (née Gillett) Hetherington, Tim Hetherington was raised in Southport, Sefton, where he attended St Patrick's Catholic Primary School.[11] Later he attended Stonyhurst College[12][13] and read Classics and English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1989.[14] Shortly after graduation he received £5,000 from his grandmother's will, which enabled him to travel for two years in India, China and Tibet.[5] That trip made him realize he "wanted to make images", so he "worked for three to four years, going to night school in photography before eventually going back to college."[5] He then studied photojournalism under Daniel Meadows and Colin Jacobson in Cardiff in 1996.[15]

Career

Hetherington at a photo session in Huambo, Angola, in 2002

Hetherington's first job was that of a trainee at The Big Issue, in London.[8][15] He was their sole staff photographer,[15] photographing homeless shelters, demonstrations, dockers' strikes, boxing gyms, celebrities, etc.[8] He was not fond of his celebrity assignments, wanting to focus on what he believed to be more serious stories.[8] He spent much of the next decade in West Africa, documenting political upheaval and its effects on daily life in Liberia, Sierra Leone,[2] Nigeria, and other countries. Hetherington worked as a photographer on the films Liberia: An Uncivil War[16] (2004) and The Devil Came on Horseback[17] (2007). In 2006, Hetherington took a break from image-making to work as an investigator for the United Nations Security Council's Liberia Sanctions Committee.

Hetherington made several trips to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 with writer Sebastian Junger, on assignment for Vanity Fair. They were embedded with a single U.S. Army platoon (Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team) serving at a remote outpost in the Korengal Valley. They filmed the 2010 documentary film Restrepo there,[18] and Afghanistan – The Other War, which was broadcast on ABC News's Nightline programme. Hetherington's book Infidel is based on the same platoon.

Hetherington (left) with Sebastian Junger in February 2011.

In 2010 he directed the short film Diary:

Diary is a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It's a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.[19]

Death

In a June 2010 interview for The New York Times, when asked by photojournalist Michael Kamber about Infidel, the book he did with Chris Boot that was about to be published, Hetherington commented on the level of danger he encountered when working on it:[20]

The first time I went to Afghanistan, in 2007, the world was very much focused on Iraq. People had forgotten – and now we have come to accept – that the Afghan war was going out of control. When I got to the Korangal Valley, and there was lots of fighting going on, it completely surprised me. I was gobsmacked. At the end of October 2007, 70 percent of American bombs being dropped were in that valley, and the casualty rate was at 25 percent wounded. So the images I made were very action oriented. Photojournalism. Reminiscent of classical war photography. I did that because I wanted people to see that there was a lot of fighting going on. Anyway, I go back and the fighting sort of bored me. Because when you are in a lot of combat after a while, a lot of it – you know? If you are inside a base that's being attacked, like Restrepo was, you are in a fairly good position. The likelihood of you being killed was pretty low, unless they put a mortar on you.

Hetherington was killed while covering the front lines in the besieged city of Misrata, Libya, during the 2011 Libyan civil war. There appeared to be uncertainty whether he was killed by shrapnel from a mortar shell[10] or an RPG[21] round. One report said "several Libyan rebels" were killed in the blast, and at least two other journalists survived.[22] The same attack killed photographer Chris Hondros and gravely wounded photographer Guy Martin.[23]

A source said that the group was travelling with rebel fighters.[21] Hetherington had tweeted the previous day,

In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.[24][25]

The shrapnel wound was not necessarily fatal, he was loaded into a van alive, but died due to excessive blood loss:[26]

Hetherington in July 2010

Hetherington was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London, survived by his parents, sister, brother, and several nieces and nephews.[27]

Just days after his death in Misrata, the Libyan city of Ajdabiya renamed its largest square after him. Anti-Gaddafi protesters also held a march to the newly renamed Tim Hetherington Square in his honour. "We have named the square after this hero and I now consider Tim as one of our martyrs," Al Jazeera quoted a Libyan surgeon in the city as saying.[28]

Senator John McCain sent two American flags to a memorial service in New York: one was given to the Hetherington family; the other was presented to filmmaker Idil Ibrahim,[22] Hetherington's life partner and co-worker at Zeila Films, where he had served as head cinematographer / director of photography.[29][30] The flags were delivered at the service by four American veterans of Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan, who had been "many times ... under fire with Tim" and Junger, who wrote the account of the service.[22]

Awards

Books

Books by Hetherington

Books with contributions by Hetherington

Books about Hetherington

Exhibitions

Filmography

Films by Hetherington

Contributions to films

Legacy

The Tim Hetherington Grant is awarded annually by World Press Photo and Human Rights Watch to a photographer who has participated in a recent World Press Photo Contest in order to finalize a project on a human rights theme.[47]

Sebastian Junger's documentary film Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (2013), backed by HBO Films, is a tribute to Hetherington.[n 3][48][49][50]

Hetherington's estate is represented by Magnum Photos.[51] He was preparing to apply to the photo agency before he died.

The Tim Hetherington Trust

Further information: Tim Hetherington Trust

The Tim Hetherington Trust was set up in 2012 by Hetherington's parents Judith and Alistair,[52] with Stephen Mayes its executive director.[53][54] Its website states its mission is "to preserve the legacy of Tim’s professional life as a visual storyteller and human rights advocate" including "the support and nurture of new work that continues the ideals demonstrated by Tim with special emphasis on humanitarian and social concerns".[55]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The film is available to watch at http://vimeo.com/18395855
  2. ↑ The film is available to watch at http://vimeo.com/18497543
  3. ↑ The film is available to watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PYjh8Ue7IA

References

  1. ↑ Siddle, John (21 April 2011). "Merseyside-Born Photographer Tim Hetherington Killed in Libya". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 Spencer, Richard; Collins, Nick (21 April 2011). "Libya: British Photographer Killed in Misurata – Oscar-Nominated British Photographer Tim Hetherington and His US Colleague Chris Hondros Have Been Killed While Covering the Fighting in the Libyan City of Misurata, the Foreign Office Has Confirmed". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Tim Hetherington" (Obituary), The Times, 22 April 2011, p. 70.
  4. ↑ "This Man Is Not a Photojournalist". Photo District News. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 Brabazon, James (21 April 2011). "Tim Hetherington obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  6. ↑ "Contributing Photographer: Tim Hetherington". Vanity Fair (magazine). Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  7. 1 2 Tourtellotte, Bob (31 January 2010). ""Winter's Bone", "Restrepo" Win Top Sundance Awards". Reuters. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, Xan (21 April 2011). "Tim Hetherington: one of the finest photojournalists on the planet". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Tim Hetherington, World Press Photo of the Year, World Press Photo of the Year"
  10. 1 2 3 Staff (21 April 2011). "Oscar-Nominated War Photographer Tim Hetherington Killed in Libya Mortar Attack by Gaddafi's Troops". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  11. ↑ Griffiths, Chloe (23 April 2011). "Body of Award-Winning Merseyside Photographer Tim Hetherington Moved on Aid Ship". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  12. ↑ Gammell, Caroline (21 April 2011). "Libya: Tim Hetherington's Girlfriend Pays Tribute to her 'Timinator'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  13. ↑ Tim Hetherington (OS) R.I.P. Stonyhurst College website
  14. ↑ Press release (21 April 2011). "Tim Hetherington (1970 –2011)". Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
    "LMH is sad to learn of the death of alumnus Tim Hetherington, 1989 Classics and English, who was killed in Misrata on Wednesday 20th April, while covering the conflict in Libya for Vanity Fair."
  15. 1 2 3 Hetherington, Tim. "The Big Issue". Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  16. 1 2 "Liberia: An Uncivil War (2004)", New York Times. Accessed 3 July 2014.
  17. 1 2 "The Devil Came on Horseback", 3Generations. Accessed 3 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Chivers, C.J. (21 April 2011). "‘Restrepo’ Director and a Photographer Are Killed in Libya". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  19. ↑ "Tim Hetherington's channel at Vimeo".
  20. ↑ Kamber, Michael (22 June 2010). "Restrepo and the Imagery of War". Lens (blog). The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  21. 1 2 Staff writer (22 April 2011). "Bodies of Two Photographers Killed in Libya Arrive in Benghazi". CNN. Retrieved 25 April 2011. The journalists were walking in the front-line area at the end of Tripoli Street on the western edge of Misrata when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded, according to a town resident who wanted to be identified only as "Mohammed" for safety reasons.
  22. 1 2 3 Junger, Sebastian, "Legacy: Hetherington Doctrine", Vanity Fair, 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  23. ↑ Philip Carter (Jan 2015). "Hetherington, Timothy Alastair Telemachus [Tim] (1970–2011)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103791. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  24. ↑ <Knegt, Peter (20 April 2011). "Restrepo Director Tim Hetherington Killed In Libya (Updated)". Indie Wire. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  25. ↑ Staff writer (20 April 2011). "2 Renowned Photojournalists Killed in Libya". CBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  26. ↑ Sebastian Doggart (29 Jan 2013). "On the front line: a documentary tribute to Tim Hetherington". Guardian News and Media Limited.
  27. ↑ Staff. "Tim Hetherington profile". Associated Press (via legacy.com). Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  28. ↑ Turton, Sue (22 April 2011). "Ajdabiya Honours Fallen British Photojournalist". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  29. ↑ "About Us". Zeila Films. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  30. ↑ Ibrahim, Idil (11 December 2011). "Tim Hetherington remembered by Idil Ibrahim". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  31. ↑ "1999, Tim Hetherington, 2nd prize, Sports stories"
  32. ↑ "Tim Hetherington: An award-winning photojournalist who dedicated his life to covering conflict zones", NESTA. Accessed 29 June 2014.
  33. ↑ "World Press Photo, Tim Hetherington, 1st prize, Portraits stories"
  34. ↑ "World Press Photo, Tim Hetherington, 2nd prize, General News stories"
  35. ↑ "The Rory Peck Trust, 20 April 2011, Libya (Winner, Rory Peck Award for Features 2008)"
  36. ↑ "Aperture Exposures Blog Tim Hetherington Installation and Video on View"
  37. ↑ "IAVA to Honor Restrepo Directors Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington at Heroes Celebration"
  38. ↑ "Tim Hetherington awarded 2013 McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism". World Press Photo. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  39. ↑ "Foto8 - Home For Good Exhibition by Jon Levy, Foto8".
  40. ↑ "Foto8 - Liberia Long Story Bit by Bit Exhibition by Tim Hetherington".
  41. ↑ "Foto8 - Infidel Exhibition by Tim Hetherington".
  42. ↑ . Guernsey Photography Festival.
  43. ↑ "In Afghanistan"
  44. ↑ "Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This".
  45. ↑ Tim Hetherington: Infidel, Photofusion. Accessed 25 August 2014.
  46. ↑ Tim Hetherington: Infidel, PhotoFusion - exhibition review, London Evening Standard. Accessed 25 August 2014.
  47. ↑ "Tim Hetherington Grant". World Press Photo. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  48. ↑ "Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington – review", The Guardian. Accessed 29 June 2014.
  49. ↑ "Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? Th...", HBO. Accessed 29 June 2014.
  50. ↑ "Recalling a Chronicler of Combat as It Is: Junger’s Film ‘Which Way Is the Front Line From Here?’ on HBO", New York Times. Accessed 29 June 2014.
  51. ↑ "Tim Hetherington Visionary Award". British Journal of Photography (Incisive Financial Publishing Limited) 162 (7834): 12, 13. 2015.
  52. ↑ Brooks-Pollock, Tom (15 May 2013). "How Tim’s eye for a picture is still helping blind African children". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  53. ↑ "Images of war captured in Tim Hetherington photo exhibition", Liverpool Echo. Accessed 29 June 2014.
  54. ↑ Padley, Gemma (3 February 2015). "Tim Hetherington Trust unveils new award shortlist". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  55. ↑ "Tim Hetherington". Tim Hetherington Trust. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

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