KILLING FIELDS PHOTOGRAPHER DIES

• Killing fields photographer dies – Dith Pran, whose work (and fate) as reporting partner to Sydney H. Schanberg was portrayed in the movie The Killing Fields, has died of cancer in hospital in New Jersey. He was 65. Dith Pran originally taught himself photography so that he could take pictures for Schanberg. After his escape from Cambodia in 1979 he worked as a staff photographer on The New York Times. [expand story >>>]

The Killing Fields movie includes a portrayal of Schanberg and other foreign journalists attempting to create a passport for Dith Pran, so that he can escape the country with them. A passport of Schanberg's is altered by removing all except his middle names, and the passport photo is removed. To replace it with one of Dith Pran, the journalists photograph him and develop and print the negative in an embassy bathroom. The paper is out of date. The chemicals are improvised. The first two attempts to print the photo fail to stop and fix it. The third print seems to be okay, but has faded completely by the time it is needed. [add comment]

PHILIP JONES GRIFFITHS DIES

• Legendary Photojournalist Philip Jones Griffiths dies at 72 –
by Parinita Salian

British photographer Philip Jones Griffiths, best known for his incisive coverage of the Vietnam war, passed away on Tuesday, March 19 at his home in London. Jones Griffiths, a longtime member and former president of the prestigious Magnum photo agency had been battling cancer. [expand story >>>]

Born in Rhuddlan, Wales, Jones Griffiths studied pharmacy in Liverpool and practiced in London while photographing part time for the Manchester Guardian. In 1961 he became a full-time freelancer for the London Observer. He covered the Algerian War in 1962, then became based in Central Africa, moving from there to Asia. From 1966 to 1971, Jones Griffiths reported on the Vietnam War. His influential book, Vietnam Inc., helped turn US public opinion against the conflict. He returned to Vietnam numerous times in the 1980s and 1990s to document the country's recovery. Those images were collected in the books Agent Orange – Collateral Damage in Vietnam (2003) and Vietnam at Peace (2005).



In a career that took him to more than a hundred countries, Jones Griffiths covered everything from Buddhism in Cambodia, drought in India, and poverty in Texas to the legacy of the Gulf war in Kuwait. You can see some of his work on the frontlines in the YouTube clip above.

With his death we have lost one of the greatest photographers and journalists of our time. But his work will live on to be a true inspiration for the many emerging photojournalists in the world. [add comment]