James Nachtwey: 30 Years in TIME

2 minute read
From "The Best Photographs of the Year." December 22, 2003 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
By James Nachtwey

To celebrate James Nachtwey’s 30 years as a contract photographer for TIME, we have organized an exhibit of 54 layouts that have appeared in the magazine featuring his work from Chechnya to Somalia and from Afghanistan to Burma, along with a series of his powerful, previously unpublished photographs. Below, James Nachtwey, and TIME’s Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs, reflect on the relationship between photographer and publication.

Any worthwhile, long-term relationship is built on integrity, trust, caring and a common purpose, and those are the elements that have characterized my 30-year relationship with TIME. Working in the field in difficult circumstances, there are many things to be concerned about, from logistics to survival, but the ultimate goal is to get the story right. Knowing that the people who publish the pictures are just as motivated by that as I am means everything. Every image on these walls is the result of teamwork. I happened to be the point man, but the support, guidance and inspiration I have received for so many years have made this work possible, and I want to thank all my colleagues at TIME from the bottom of my heart. — James Nachtwey

An armed pro-Russia militant stands guard as the self-styled governor of the so-called "People's Republic of Donetsk" speaks to the media near the regional state building seized by separatists in the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on May 13, 2014.
Genya Savilov—AFP/Getty Images

TIME’s exhibition at Photoville.

James Nachtwey has spent his life in the places people most want to avoid: war zones and refugee camps, the city flattened by an earthquake or a terrorist attack, the village swallowed by a flood. A Massachusetts native and graduate of Dartmouth, Jim worked in the merchant marine and as a truck driver while he taught himself photography. His assignments for TIME, where he is in his 30th year, have taken him around the world multiple times. There is a particular art to capturing the places where pain presides. Pain is the most private experience, but its causes demand public accounting. It’s exactly when you want to look the other way that Jim’s images bring you back, command attention and invite understanding. — Nancy Gibbs

James Nachtwey: 30 Years in TIME runs from September 18 to 28, 2014 and is part of Photoville, an outdoor photography exhibition in Brooklyn, New York.

James Nachtwey is a TIME contract photographer, documenting wars, conflicts and critical social issues. Nancy Gibbs is Managing Editor of TIME.

From "Death as a Way of Life." June 14, 1993 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Slaughter in Slow Motion." August 23, 1993 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "At the Dawn of Liberation." May 2, 1994 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "A Look into Hell." July 4, 1994 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "A Look into Hell." July 4, 1994 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Death of a City." June 24, 1996 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Images." December 30, 1996 / January 6, 1997 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Our Work, Our World." May 22, 2000 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Crimes Against Humanity." February 12, 2001 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Crimes Against Humanity." February 12, 2001 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Day of Infamy." September 14, 2001 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Revenge Comes Calling." April 22, 2002 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Untangling Jenin's Tale." May 13, 2002 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Afghanistan Today." June 24, 2002 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Afghanistan Today." June 24, 2002 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Palestinians: An Inside Look at Life in an Embattled Society." August 19, 2002 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Awestruck." March 31, 2003 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "After the Fall." April 21, 2003 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "A Nation Under Siege." December 15, 2003 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Best Photographs of the Year." December 22, 2003 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "A Soldier's Life." December 29, 2003 / January 5, 2004 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Counting the Days." March 15, 2004 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Tragedy of Sudan." October 4, 2004 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Tragedy of Sudan." October 4, 2004 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Saving 1 Life At a Time." November 7, 2005 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The End of Poverty." March 14, 2005 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Saving 1 Life At a Time." November 7, 2005 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Saving 1 Life At a Time." November 7, 2005 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Hidden Killers." June 5, 2006 issue©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Forgotten Plague." October 13, 2008 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Forgotten Plague." October 13, 2008 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Out of the Ruins." February 8, 2010 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Out of the Ruins." February 8, 2010 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Birds Of Hope: With A Black Hawk Medevac Unit In Afghanistan." January 17, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Birds Of Hope: With A Black Hawk Medevac Unit In Afghanistan." January 17, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Birds Of Hope: With A Black Hawk Medevac Unit In Afghanistan." January 17, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Day the Earth Moved." March 28, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Day the Earth Moved." March 28, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Poppy Poison." May 9, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Poppy Poison." May 9, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "When Terror Loses its Grip." May 20, 2011 issue©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Drugged Out." May 30, 2011 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Day the Towers Fell." September 19, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Day the Towers Fell." September 19, 2011 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Japan One Year Later." March 12, 2012 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "Japan One Year Later." March 12, 2012 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "A Day Of Hope Dawns." April 9, 2012 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Lessons of Bosnia." April 16, 2012 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "The Lessons of Bosnia." April 16, 2012 International issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME
From "No Home in Sight." February 3, 2014 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "No Home in Sight." February 3, 2014 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Burma's Shame." July 21, 2014 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Burma's Shame." July 21, 2014 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey
From "Burma's Shame." July 21, 2014 issue.©TIME/Photograph by James Nachtwey

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