Tim Hetherington 1970 - 2011
Timothy Alistair Telemachus Hetherington (5 December 1970 – 20 April 2011) was a British photojournalist. He produced books, films and other work and was a regular contributor to Vanity Fair. Tim Hetherington studied literature at Oxford University and after traveling independently in China, India and Pakistan, initially worked in book publishing. In 1996, he changed profession to photography, through a post-graduate diploma course in photojournalism at the University of Wales Cardiff. Hetherington's first job was that of a trainee at The Big Issue, in London. He was thei r sole staff photographer, photographing homeless shelters, demonstrations, dockers' strikes, boxing gyms, celebrities, etc As a freelance photographer and filmmaker, Hetherington was interested in long-term projects. He spent eight years focused on stories in Africa, living in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. In Liberia he covered the Second Civil War behind the lines with rebel fighters. In 2007, he won the World Press Photo contest for an image of an exhausted American warrior casing his face with his hands after a day of fight in Afghanistan at the Korangal valley. This work was produced for Vanity Fair. With Sebastian Junger (writer), in 2007 to 2008, he paid many visits to Afghanistan. He was well-known for Restrepo, the documentary film made in 2010. During the Libyan civil war, 2011 that spread tension around the world – while documenting the frontlines of Misrata, the photojournalist was killed. Along with Tim Hetherington, Chris Hondros also became an unexpected target of the uprising. Guy Martin who was also photographing the event got severely injured. 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 or an RPG round. Hetherington survived the initial incident and was loaded into a van alive, but died due to excessive blood loss. 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," |