Three people were awarded TED prizes today: Bill Clinton, sociobiologist E.O. Wilson, and photographer James Nachtwey, who specializes in capturing startling and disturbing, yet moving and beautiful images of people whose lives have been destroyed by the hatred and greed of other people. As Nachtwey spoke, his photographs were displayed on a large screen behind him. No one made a sound as the images of maimed, starved, tortured, and slaughtered people were put on display. The final photo he showed stunned everyone — a skeletal man, crawling past a dilapidated hut. (Here's the image, be warned that it's very powerful.)
When E.O. Wilson accepted his award after Nachtwey left the stage, he remarked, "I am subdued by James Nachtwey's presentation."
Here's a portfolio of Nachtwey's work: Link. And here's a video about the three TED prize winners for 2007.
Reader comment:
Doyle Stevick, Assistant Professor
Educational Leadership and Policies
University of South Carolina, says:
I'm sure you've heard about it dozens of times already, but Nachtwey was featured in an absolutely amazing documentary called War Photographer (video excerpt here).
It was one of the most moving, powerful and insightful documentaries I've ever seen (and I'm a bit of a documentary addict.) I used it when teaching Human Rights.
