THE WAR PHOTOGRAPHERS, a documentary film commissioned by the Annenberg Space for Photography will debut with the exhibit, WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath, set to open on March 23rd. Arclight Productions has been commissioned to produce the original documentary short that will be featured as part of this unprecedented exhibit.
The exhibit will open free to the public in Los Angeles on March 23, 2013 and run through June 2, 2013. The film will be shown in vivid detail on two 14′ by 7′ screens in 4K resolution in the Digital Gallery, which is central to the architecture of the Photography Space and the exhibit experience. This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and is made possible with generous support from the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.
WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY encompasses over 150 images going as far back as 1887 through present-day and is arranged by themes presenting both the military and civilian point of view including the advent of war, daily routines, the fight itself, the aftermath, medical care, prisoners of war, refugees, executions, memorials, remembrance and more.
Exclusive to the Los Angeles exhibit will be the Annenberg Space for Photography’s original short documentary, THE WAR PHOTOGRAPHERS, directed by Steven Kochones and featuring the stories and images of six acclaimed contemporary war photographers: Alexandra Avakian, Carolyn Cole, Ashley Gilbertson, Edouard H.R. Gl๏ฟฝck, David Hume Kennerly and Jo๏ฟฝo Silva.
The film offers intimate interviews and stunning imagery that reveal experiences of sacrifice and courage as well as the life-threatening situations faced by war photographers and their subjects. The stories include photographer Jo๏ฟฝo Silva revisiting sites in his native South Africa, recalling the violence that led up to that country’s first democratic elections in 1994. Ashley Gilbertson is filmed in Midland, Texas, on the final shoot of his emotional project documenting the bedrooms of young soldiers who never returned home from war. Other photographers share their experiences covering conflict in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and the Middle East.
The film features the work of award-winning photographers and photojournalists:
ALEXANDRA AVAKIAN – Photojournalist Alexandra Avakian has been published in National Geographic, Time, LIFE, The New York Times Magazine and more. Her photographic and written memoir, Windows of the Soul: My Journeys in the Muslim World, was named as one of American Photo’s year-end best.
CAROLYN COLE – Carolyn Cole is a multiple award-winning photographer and a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. She has covered conflicts in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Haiti and Liberia, where she earned the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the siege of Monrovia.
ASHLEY GILBERTSON – Ashley Gilbertson is a recipient of the National Magazine Award for Bedrooms of the Fallen and the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal for his work in Fallujah. Gilbertson’s first book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, chronicles his arrival on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq as a 25 year-old photojournalist.
EDOUARD H.R. GL๏ฟฝCK – American photojournalist Edouard H.R. Gl๏ฟฝck began his photographic career as an American soldier in the Iraq War. His work has been published in the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, GQ, the Guardian, Newsweek and Time. He is a contributor to the Associated Press and Bloomberg.
DAVID HUME KENNERLY – David Hume Kennerly won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He has been shooting on the front lines of history for more than 45 years and has photographed 8 wars, as many U.S. presidents, served as Chief White House photographer for President Gerald R. Ford and was named “One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography” by American Photo.
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