Simon Griffee
Department of graphic design, art direction, and photography.

James Natchwey Speaking at TED

Published 2007 August 28

“Our political and military leaders were telling us one thing, and photographers were telling us another. I believed the photographers, and so did millions of other Americans.”

“One of the things I had to learn as a journalist was what to do with my anger. I had to use it, channel its energy, turn it into something that would clarify my vision instead of clouding it.”

“It was a story that wasn’t trying to sell anything. Journalism had provided a channel for people’s natural sense of generosity, and the readers responded.”

“I’ve been photographing in the Islamic world since 1981. Not only in the Middle East but also in Africa, Asia and Europe. At the time I was photographing in these different places I thought I was covering separate stories but on nine-eleven history crystallized, and I understood I’d actually been covering a single story for more than twenty years, and the attack on New York was its latest manifestation.”

James Natchwey (James Nachtwey: TED Prize wish: Share a vital story with the world.)