Restrepo Director and Photographer Killed in Libya

[Alcibiades]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/04/20/2011-04-20_restrepo_filmmaker_tim_hetherington_nybased_getty_war_photographer_chris_hondros.html?r=news

'Restrepo' filmmaker Tim Hetherington, war photographer Chris Hondros killed in Libya fighting


Two of the world's most acclaimed war photographers, both based in Brooklyn, were killed in Libya on Wednesday.

Chris Hondros, a senior correspondent for Getty images, and his buddy Tim Hetherington, who co-directed this year's Oscar-nominated Afghanistan documentary "Restrepo," were in Misrata when Col. Moammar Khadafy's forces shelled the city.

"The artistic and journalistic community has lost two shining stars," said Micah Garen, a New York-based war documentary filmmaker who knew them both.

"It's completely devastating. They were both incredibly generous and warm people."

Hetherington, 41, tweeted until the end.

His last message, sent Tuesday: "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Khadafy forces. No sign of NATO."

NATO has taken over the task of protecting civilians from Khadafy's military but has been criticized for not being aggressive enough about bombing regime forces.

Agence France Presse reported Hetherington, Hondros and two other journalists were hit by mortar fire on the main thoroughfare in Misrata, which has been under siege for almost two months.

The two other photographers, Guy Martin and Michael Brown, were also wounded, Martin very seriously.

The close-knit ranks of international combat photographers, a small cadre who brave pain and misery as a matter of course, were reeling.



Hetherington and Hondros traveled the world, risking their lives to cover global conflicts. Both had been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and received multiple awards for their work.

Hetherington, a Briton who lived in Brooklyn, was a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair. He collaborated with writer Sebastian Junger on the 2010 film "Restrepo," about an Army platoon based in Afghanistan's dangerous Korengal Valley.

The film won the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Hetherington won the 2007 World Press Photo award for his shot of a tired American soldier covering his face with his hand in the Korengal Valley.

"We are saddened beyond words," Cathy Saypol, president of the "Restrepo" production company, said in a statement.

Hetherington was last home in Williamsburg about a week ago, said neighbor Ralf Beuschlein, 49.

"When he told me had been in Libya and a fellow photographer was shot in the leg, I said, 'aren't you scared?' He said, 'it comes with the territory.'

"He knew the risks and was completely aware of that but felt it had to be shown to the world."

Beuschlein said that no matter what horrors Hetherington had seen, "he was always happy and in a good mood, always uplifting. He was not cynical."

Hondros, born in New York to Greek and German immigrant parents, had survived some of the world's worst conflicts of the last 20 years, including Kosovo, Angola, Sierra Leone, Kashmir, the West Bank, Afghanistan and Iraq.

His work in Liberia made him a Pulitzer finalist.

He recently became engaged to be married in August, said Stephanie Gaskell, a former Daily News war correspondent who knew Hondros well.

"Chris is the best kind of war photographer there is - humble, cautious, always eager to help others," said Gaskell, editor of The War Report blog. "He is an inspiration to all of us and a dear friend. We are all praying for good news."

Hondros recently photographed the riots in Cairo's Tahrir Square, barely escaping rocks and charging camels. He compared it to "slave revolts in the Pharonic times four thousand years ago."

In the Chicago Tribune last month, Hondros laid out what he called his bedrock ground rules: "Travel light. Eat breakfast. Be prepared for the unexpected. Guard and hide your images once you make them. Remember how quickly a benign situation can turn onerous."




Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/04/20/2011-04-20_restrepo_filmmaker_tim_hetherington_nybased_getty_war_photographer_chris_hondros.html#ixzz1K7LF6YS4

Last photos taken before they were killed:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/galleries/photographer_wounded_in_libya_chris_hondros_photos/photographer_wounded_in_libya_chris_hondros_photos.html

[viper37]

I'm watching the Restrepo movie, little by little, as much as I can afford it time-wise.  It's sad he died that way.

[Siege]

Were they a couple?

[Eddie Teach]

Were they a couple?

When you speak of a "buddy" is that a euphemism for a lover?

[Martinus]

Were they a couple?

When you speak of a "buddy" is that a euphemism for a lover?

Siegy probably is drawing from his own experience which dictates that whenever you are with another man in a warzone, you need to be fucking each other.

[Syt]

[Slargos]

What a surprising development. Who would've thought you could die in a warzone? 

[Mr.Penguin]

How dare they shoot at unarmed reporters who runs around among fighters engaged in house to house combat with government troops, unforgivable. I bet it was "foreign mercenaries" using banned cluster ammunition or even snipers on rooftops, who did it...