One Bit of a Long Story: Tim Hetherington

(LURD rebel says goodbye before battle)


Tim Hetherington died today in Libya doing what he does best: covering conflict. At present, there are varying reports that Chris Hondros also died. I hope the reports saying he was in very critical care are correct, and that he pulls through.

Hetherington, along with James Bradbazon, covered the end of Liberia's civil war by walking from the Guinean border to Tubmanburg to team up with the LURD faction, who's advance on the capital largely forced Charles Taylor to fall.

The photos from this, and the several years Hetherington spent after this documenting Liberia's return from violence are captured in the amazing book Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold.

I first read this book on Glenna Gordon's couch in Monrovia, in the summer of 2009. Then I bought three copies of it. It's ability to capture kind, sincere, soft moments amidst the carnage of Liberia's civil war and aftermath, and to document a completely hidden reality are unparalleled. It completely and totally altered how I thought about, and now see, journalism. Talking about this book with Glenna on numerous occasions that summer played an absolutely massive role in deciding to take the photography side of my work more seriously. This in turn forced me to develop not only my technical skills, but more so, to really, truly realize all the work and - again, more so - thought that has to go into every single frame you even think of publishing.

Of course, living up to these ideals remains very much a work in progress for me. But truly disappointed to see someone I admired so much pass away.


(a man canoes past a beached ship near Greenville, Liberia)

Solid Articulos

I realized while dodging Mexi Traffic the other day, that since twitter became my primary news source, I had kinda ceased posting articles on my blog. Actually, truth be told, I got two emails from readers saying that, and I remembered it lost in a traffic-weaving trance near g.Mancera and o.Mundial.

So, while a bit late, here are a few truly excellent articles from out of Mexico last week, that are not really time sensitive.

1. Limes and Crimes (Nacha Cattan, Christian Science Monitor)

Any casual reader of this blog knows my love of informal economies. This one talks on how cartel influence jacks prices of a classic Mexican staple: el limon.

2) Tamaulipas (NYT)

A few days after talking to a photog en el norte about how Tamaulipas is basically a no-go zone for journos, Elizabeth Malkin and Damien Cave wrote this sobering account of a region almost completely blacked out from media coverage, and virtually out of government's control.

3) Not Speaking to You (Jo Tuckman, Guardian)

The indigenous language Ayapaneco is dying. Two people still speak it. They aren't talking because they don't really like each other. (Amazing find.)

4) How Cartels Work (Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone)

Gotta admit, was a bit disappointed on lack of depth here, but still some solid general info on how outgunned everyone is at dealing with the drug trade.


5) Stephen King on Writing (James Parker, The Atlantic)

I'll be the first to admit that I am no Steven King fanatic. Read a few books, a few stories have stuck with me over the years, but he's not my number one. This article, however, is a great little insight on how one of the greats deals with the onerous creative process of writing, flipping ideas around to shake one out.

Gettin' By - Performing in Tráfico

This is part of a series called Gettin' By, that looks at street-level jobs, and the basic economics behind them.

Profession: Traffic Performer

Location: Some of the infinite busy intersections within the megacity.

How it Works: Light turns red, cars reluctantly stop. A captive market stares from behind their windshields. On any given day, all shapes and sizes appear at the cruzero, performing a wide range of "talents" - of which the skill level range is graphically unplotable.

In Tijuana the other day, Spiderman juggled on stilts while Wonder Woman danced on the side for a bit, then collected from the line of windows.

There are an unbelievable amount of clowns: forlorn clowns, juggling clowns, unicycle clowns, scarily happy clowns, downright scary clowns. (Seriously, if anyone has a real explanation for why there are so many clowns, I am on a 'want to know' basis).

Also lots of jugglers, the odd music thing, kids running around, breakdancing (not always distinguishable from the former, as skill level varies), traditional dancing and - amongst myriad other thangs, but pictured above - fire dancing.

A good traffic performer needs 'the force' - the knowledge of light change speeds. You want to max out your performance time, so as to please the commuters. But countless - 80%, if I had to guess - boogey right up until the light changes, leaving almost no time to pass by the cars for collection. Then they complain about making no money.

Usually drivers offer up whatever shrapnel they have in cup holders, sweater pockets or purses. 3 - 5 pesos is about average, though generosity or showmanship can lead to more. There's myths about people being passed 500 peso bills, but its mainly stoned teenagers singing that tune; old hands know its a metal game.

Add up that metal, and 200 pesos is the standard 5 hours for "Rico", seen above, but he doesn't do much else. An animated clown performer juggler on Gabriel Mancera said he makes about 250 in 3 - 4 hours, in between school and heading home. An older accordion player somewhere en La Del Valle said he would make about 200, but in closer to 3 hours in the evenings, after he finishes work. Where one person performs and another collects, rates double, even triple. More car windows, more pesitos.


Risks and Dangers: Pederestrianism is an 'at your own risk' thing across DF. Standing in front of a line of implicitly aggro drivers, and dodging between them as they accelerate in anticipation of la verde brings obvious risks. Robbery hits a few, as do cop shakedowns. Breathing unfiltered fumes all day on sunny pavement has its down sides. But, putting personal health at risk for a few bucks is not uncommon.

Security Light: Clearly One of My Favourite Things About Mexico

There is a line. People are patiently enduring it. I enter the waiting. I try my best at patience.

Conceptualize the word "disinterested." Now, juxtapose that onto a Mexican man in his forties, wearing a black vinyl jacket "Seguridad" written in yellow, black pants and a forward-leaning meshback. He holds a metal detector.

Person one arrives at his presence. He scans them. They beep. Person two arrives, and again beeps as he scans both their person and their bags. "Pasale," he says to both. This repeats. Often.

I eventually arrive, a bag full of cameras, one pocket with a recorder and a mini tripod, another with tons of change. Bueno. He nods. I beep with every movement of the detector.

"Pasale." His expression does not alter.

I walk on.

Frontera Foto

Barbara la niña hugs Tomás el gato. Borderland, east Tijuana.

Zapatista Migrant Workers hit Cancun

A worker waits for bus repair in Ococsingo, Chiapas, before heading to look for work in Cancún, Quintana Roo.

This story had been on the back burner for a while, lost in the shuffle of busy schedules. But we got it out, and is now available on the site for PRI's The World.

Grant narrates the radio piece, and I narrate over my photos on the slideshow.

Special thanks to CLP for their support and funding.