Tim Hetherington

Early life and education

Born in Birkenhead to Judith () and Alistair Hetherington, Tim Hetherington was raised in Southport, where he attended St Patrick's Catholic Primary School. Later he attended Stonyhurst College and read Classics and English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1989.

Shortly after graduation he received £5,000 from his grandmother's will, which enabled him to travel for two years in India, China, and Tibet. That trip made him realise he "wanted to make images", so he "worked for three to four years, going to night school in photography before eventually going back to college." He then studied photojournalism under Daniel Meadows and Colin Jacobson in Cardiff in 1996.

Career

Hetherington's first job was that of a trainee at The Big Issue, in London. He was their sole staff photographer, photographing homeless shelters, demonstrations, dockers' strikes, boxing gyms, celebrities, etc. He was not fond of his celebrity assignments, wanting to focus on what he believed to be more serious stories. He spent much of the next decade in West Africa, documenting political upheaval and its effects on daily life in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and other countries. Hetherington worked as a photographer on the films Liberia: An Uncivil War (2004) and The Devil Came on Horseback (2007). In 2006, Hetherington took a break from image-making to work as an investigator for the United Nations Security Council's Liberia Sanctions Committee.

Hetherington made several trips to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 with writer Sebastian Junger, on assignment for Vanity Fair. They were embedded with a single U.S. Army platoon (Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team) serving at a remote outpost in the Korengal Valley. They filmed the 2010 documentary film Restrepo there, and Afghanistan – The Other War, which was broadcast on ABC News's Nightline programme. Hetherington's book Infidel is based on the same platoon. He also created a unique video installation called Sleeping Soldiers, first shown at the 2009 New York Photo Festival.

In 2010 he directed the short film Diary:Diary is a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It's a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.

Death

In a June 2010 interview for The New York Times, when asked by photojournalist Michael Kamber about Infidel, the book he did with Chris Boot that was about to be published, Hetherington commented on the level of danger he encountered when working on it:The first time I went to Afghanistan, in 2007, the world was very much focused on Iraq. People had forgotten – and now we have come to accept – that the Afghan war was going out of control. When I got to the Korangal Valley, and there was lots of fighting going on, it completely surprised me. I was gobsmacked. At the end of October 2007, 70 percent of American bombs being dropped were in that valley, and the casualty rate was at 25 percent wounded. So the images I made were very action oriented. Photojournalism. Reminiscent of classical war photography. I did that because I wanted people to see that there was a lot of fighting going on. Anyway, I go back and the fighting sort of bored me. Because when you are in a lot of combat after a while, a lot of it – you know? If you are inside a base that's being attacked, like Restrepo was, you are in a fairly good position. The likelihood of you being killed was pretty low, unless they put a mortar on you.

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. One report said "several Libyan rebels" were killed in the blast, and at least two other journalists survived. and wounded photographer Michael Christopher Brown. A source said that the group was travelling with rebel fighters. Hetherington had tweeted the previous day, Hetherington survived the initial incident and was loaded into a van alive, but died due to excessive blood loss.

Hetherington was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London, survived by his partner, parents, sister, brother, and several nieces and nephews.

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," Al Jazeera quoted a Libyan surgeon in the city as saying.

Senator John McCain sent two American flags to a memorial service in New York: one was given to the Hetherington family; the other was presented to filmmaker Idil Ibrahim, Hetherington's life partner and co-worker at Zeila Films, where he had served as head cinematographer / director of photography. The flags were delivered at the service by four American veterans of Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan, who had been "many times ... under fire with Tim" and Junger, who wrote the account of the service.

Personal life

Hetherington was in a romantic relationship with Idil Ibrahim before he was killed during the Libyan Civil War.

Awards

• 1999: World Press Photo, 2nd prize, Sports stories.
• 2000-2004: Fellowship from the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts (NESTA) "to investigate how online technology can reinvent the traditions of documentary photography to ensure it stays relevant to the 21st century".
• 2001: World Press Photo, 1st prize, Portraits stories.
• 2002: Hasselblad Foundation grant.
• 2007: World Press Photo of the Year for a photograph from the Korangal Valley.
• 2007: World Press Photo, 2nd prize, General News stories.
• 2008: Rory Peck Award for Features.
• 2009: Alfred I. duPont Award in Broadcast Journalism.
• 2010: Grand Jury Prize for best documentary for Restrepo (made with Sebastian Junger), Sundance Film Festival.
• 2011: Restrepo was nominated for "Academy Award Best Documentary – Feature" at the 83rd Academy Awards.
• 2011: "Leadership in Entertainment Award" by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), posthumously, for his work on Restrepo.
• 2011: Frontline Club Memorial Tribute Award, posthumously, along with photojournalists Chris Hondros and Anton Hammerl.
• 2013: McCrary Award For Excellence in Journalism from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the United States of America, USA.

Books

Books by Hetherington

• Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold. New York: Umbrage, 2009. .
• Infidel. London: Chris Boot, 2010. . With an introduction by Sebastian Junger.

Books with contributions by Hetherington

• Tales from a Globalizing World. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. . Edited by Daniel Schwartz. Hetherington contributes a short essay, "Healing Sport", and photographs with text.
• The World's Top Photographers: Photojournalism. Brighton & Hove: Rotovision, 2006. . Hetherington contributes photographs and captions. Edited by Andy Steele.

Books about Hetherington

• Here I am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, War Photographer. New York: Grove, 2013. . By Alan Huffman.

Exhibitions

• 2009: Home For Good group exhibition, New York Photo Festival, NY. Included Sleeping Soldiers prints and projection by Hetherington as well as work by Simon Roberts, Louie Palu, Adam Nadel, David Gray, Chris Killip, Venetia Dearden, Seba Kurtis, Lorraine Grupe, and Bruno Stevens. Curated by Foto8.
• 2009: Liberia Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold, Foto8, HOST Gallery, London, September 2009.
• 2010: Infidel, Foto8, HOST Gallery, London, September–October 2010.
• 2010: Liberia Retold and Sleeping Soldiers, Guernsey Photography Festival, May 2010.
• 2012: In Afghanistan, with Lynsey Addario, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway.
• 2013: Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, September–November 2013.
• 2014: Tim Hetherington: Infidel, Photofusion, London, 22 August - 17 September 2014; resuming 1–31 October 2014. A "mixture of photographs and video, drawn from his series Infidel and Diary".
• 2016: Infidel, The John Lennon Art and Design Building, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, September 2016. Photographs and video.

Filmography

Films by Hetherington

• Sleeping Soldiers, 2009. Short film.The film is available to watch at http://vimeo.com/18395855
• Diary, 2010. Short film.The film is available to watch at http://vimeo.com/18497543
• Restrepo (with Sebastian Junger), 2010. Feature-length film.

Contributions to films

• Liberia: An Uncivil War (2004). Feature-length film. Hetherington contributed cinematography.
• The Devil Came on Horseback (2007). Feature-length film. Hetherington contributed cinematography.
• Korengal (2014). By Sebastian Junger. Sequel to Restrepo. Feature-length film. Hetherington contributed cinematography and photo credits.

Legacy

The Tim Hetherington Grant is awarded annually by World Press Photo and Human Rights Watch to a photographer who has participated in a recent World Press Photo Contest in order to finalise a project on a human rights theme.

Sebastian Junger's documentary film Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (2013), backed by HBO Films, is a tribute to Hetherington.The film is available to watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PYjh8Ue7IA

Hetherington's estate was represented by Magnum Photos. He was preparing to apply to the photo agency before he died. His estate is now represented by Imperial War Museums.

Tim Hetherington Trust

The Tim Hetherington Trust was set up in 2012 by Hetherington's parents Judith and Alistair, with Stephen Mayes its executive director. Its website states its mission is "to preserve the legacy of Tim's professional life as a visual storyteller and human rights advocate" including "the support and nurture of new work that continues the ideals demonstrated by Tim with special emphasis on humanitarian and social concerns".

Tim Hetherington Photobook Library

The Tim Hetherington Photobook Library is a library of roughly 1200 photography books at the Bronx Documentary Center, 614 Courtlandt Avenue, Bronx, New York. It is stocked with donated books—Hetherington's parents donated his collection, whilst Aperture Foundation, Radius Books, Eugene Richards and Peter van Agtmael have also donated.

Notes

References

References

1. Siddle, John. (21 April 2011). "Merseyside-Born Photographer Tim Hetherington Killed in Libya". [[Liverpool Echo]].
2. "Tim Hetherington" (Obituary), ''[[The Times]]'', 22 April 2011, p. 70.
3. (2 August 2009). "This Man Is Not a Photojournalist". [[Photo District News]].
4. (January 2018)
5. Tourtellotte, Bob. (31 January 2010). ""Winter's Bone", "Restrepo" Win Top Sundance Awards". [[Reuters]].
6. Brooks, Xan. (21 April 2011). "Tim Hetherington: one of the finest photojournalists on the planet". [[The Guardian]].
7. "[http://www.archive.worldpressphoto.org/search/layout/result/indeling/detailwpp/form/wpp/q/ishoofdafbeelding/true/trefwoord/year/2007 Tim Hetherington, World Press Photo of the Year, World Press Photo of the Year] {{webarchive. link. (27 April 2011 ")
8. Griffiths, Chloe. (23 April 2011). "Body of Award-Winning Merseyside Photographer Tim Hetherington Moved on Aid Ship". [[Liverpool Echo]].
9. Gammell, Caroline (21 April 2011). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8466818/Libya-Tim-Hetheringtons-girlfriend-pays-tribute-to-Timinator.html "Libya: Tim Hetherington's Girlfriend Pays Tribute to her 'Timinator'"]. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
10. [http://www.stonyhurst.ac.uk/news/?pid=14&nid=3&storyid=52 Tim Hetherington (OS) R.I.P.] [[Stonyhurst College]] website
11. [[Press release]] (21 April 2011). [https://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/News/Tim-Hetherington-(1970-2011).aspx "Tim Hetherington (1970 –2011)"]. [[Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford]]. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
    "LMH is sad to learn of the death of alumnus Tim Hetherington, 1989 Classics and English, who was killed in Misrata on Wednesday 20th April, while covering the conflict in Libya for Vanity Fair."
12. Brabazon, James. (21 April 2011). "Tim Hetherington obituary". [[The Guardian]].
13. Hetherington, Tim. [https://www.source.ie/issues/issues0120/issue15/is15artbigiss.html "The Big Issue"]. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
14. Spencer, Richard; Collins, Nick (21 April 2011). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8464433/Libya-British-photographer-killed-in-Misurata.html "Libya: British Photographer Killed in Misurata – Oscar-Nominated British Photographer Tim Hetherington and His US Colleague Chris Hondros Have Been Killed While Covering the Fighting in the Libyan City of Misurata, the Foreign Office Has Confirmed"]. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
15. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140715190658/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/309297/Liberia-An-Uncivil-War/details Liberia: An Uncivil War (2004)]", [[New York Times]]. Accessed 3 July 2014.
16. "[https://www.3generations.org/film/the-devil-came-on-horseback/ The Devil Came on Horseback]", 3Generations. Accessed 3 July 2014.
17. (2013-05-03). "Hetherington remembered - The National". The National.
18. Chivers, C.J.. (21 April 2011). "'Restrepo' Director and a Photographer Are Killed in Libya". The New York Times.
19. (2011-05-29). "Standing Close to Tim Hetherington's Sleeping Soldiers".
20. [http://vimeo.com/timhetherington "Tim Hetherington's channel at Vimeo"].
21. Kamber, Michael. (22 June 2010). "''Restrepo'' and the Imagery of War". The New York Times.
22. (9 December 2018). "Band of brothers: The lives and deaths of war photographers". CBS News Sunday Morning.
23. Staff writer. (22 April 2011). "Bodies of Two Photographers Killed in Libya Arrive in Benghazi". [[CNN]].
24. Philip Carter. (Jan 2015). ["Hetherington, Timothy Alastair Telemachus [Tim] (1970–2011)"](http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/dnb/103791.html}} {{Dead link).
25. Knegt, Peter. (20 April 2011). "''Restrepo'' Director Tim Hetherington Killed In Libya (Updated)". [[Indie Wire]].
26. Staff writer. (20 April 2011). "2 Renowned Photojournalists Killed in Libya". [[CBC News]].
27. Sebastian Doggart. (29 Jan 2013). "On the front line: a documentary tribute to Tim Hetherington". Guardian News and Media Limited.
28. Staff. "Tim Hetherington profile". [[Associated Press]] (via [[legacy.com]]).
29. Turton, Sue. (22 April 2011). "Ajdabiya Honours Fallen British Photojournalist". [[Al Jazeera English.
30. Junger, Sebastian, [https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/06/sebastian-junger-tim-hetherington-201106 "Legacy: Hetherington Doctrine"], ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine). Vanity Fair]]'', 3 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
31. "About Us". Zeila Films.
32. Ibrahim, Idil. (11 December 2011). "Tim Hetherington remembered by Idil Ibrahim". The Guardian.
33. (11 December 2011). "Tim Hetherington remembered by Idil Ibrahim".
34. "[http://www.archive.worldpressphoto.org/search/layout/result/indeling/detailwpp/form/wpp/start/3/q/photographer/Tim%20Hetherington/q/ishoofdafbeelding/true?id=wpp%3Acol1%3Adat881 1999, Tim Hetherington, 2nd prize, Sports stories]"
35. "[https://archive.today/20140702020726/http://www.nesta.org.uk/node/1522 Tim Hetherington: An award-winning photojournalist who dedicated his life to covering conflict zones]", [[Nesta (charity). NESTA]]. Accessed 29 June 2014.
36. "[http://www.archive.worldpressphoto.org/search/layout/result/indeling/detailwpp/form/wpp/start/2/q/photographer/Tim%20Hetherington/q/ishoofdafbeelding/true World Press Photo, Tim Hetherington, 1st prize, Portraits stories]"
37. "Tim Hetherington". World Press Photo.
38. "[http://www.archive.worldpressphoto.org/search/layout/result/indeling/detailwpp/form/wpp/start/1/q/ishoofdafbeelding/true/trefwoord/photographer_formal/Hetherington%2C%20Tim World Press Photo, Tim Hetherington, 2nd prize, General News stories]"
39. "[http://rorypecktrust.org/page/3020/We+Remember The Rory Peck Trust, 20 April 2011, Libya (Winner, Rory Peck Award for Features 2008)] {{webarchive. link. (3 January 2012 ")
40. link. (18 May 2012 ")
41. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110427023022/http://iava.org/blog/photojournalist-tim-hetherington-remembered-honored-sebastian-junger-oscar-nominated-%E2%80%9Crestrepo%E2%80%9D "IAVA to Honor ''Restrepo'' Directors Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington at Heroes Celebration"]
42. (November 2017). "Tim Hetherington awarded 2013 McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism }}{{dead link". [[World Press Photo]].
43. (September 2016)
44. [https://www.foto8.com/live/foto8-at-the-new-york-photo-festival/ "Foto8 at the New York Photo Festival"], Foto8. Accessed 14 September 2016.
45. [http://www.foto8.com/new/on-display/host-exhibitions/1028-tim-hetherington-long-story-bit-by-bit-liberia-retold "Foto8 - Liberia Long Story Bit by Bit Exhibition by Tim Hetherington"] {{webarchive. link. (11 January 2012 .)
46. [http://www.foto8.com/new/on-display/host-exhibitions/1243-tim-hetherington-infidel "Foto8 - ''Infidel'' Exhibition by Tim Hetherington"] {{webarchive. link. (11 January 2012 .)
47. "Guernsey Photography Festival : Tim Hetherington. Liberia and Sleeping Soldiers".
48. [http://www.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/exhibitions/in-afghanistan "In Afghanistan"] {{Webarchive. link. (7 January 2017 [[Nobel Peace Center]])
49. [https://www.openeye.org.uk/main-exhibition/tim-hetherington-you-never-see-them-like-this/ "Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This"]. [[Open Eye Gallery]]
50. [http://www.photofusion.org/exhibitions/tim-hetherington-infidel/ Tim Hetherington: Infidel], Photofusion. Accessed 25 August 2014.
51. [https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/exhibitions/tim-hetherington-infidel-photofusion--exhibition-review-9685545.html Tim Hetherington: Infidel, PhotoFusion - exhibition review], [[London Evening Standard]]. Accessed 25 August 2014.
52. [https://www.timhetheringtontrust.org/news-and-calendar/2016/09/infidel-exhibition Infidel Exhibition], [[Tim Hetherington Trust]]. Accessed 14 September 2016.
53. "Tim Hetherington Grant". [[World Press Photo]].
54. "[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/10/which-way-front-line-hetherington-review Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington – review]", [[The Guardian]]. Accessed 29 June 2014.
55. "[http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/which-way-is-the-frontline-from-here-the-life-and-times-of-tim-heatherington#/ Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? Th...]", [[HBO]]. Accessed 29 June 2014.
56. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/arts/television/jungers-film-which-way-is-the-front-line-from-here-on-hbo.html Recalling a Chronicler of Combat as It Is: Junger's Film ‘Which Way Is the Front Line From Here?' on HBO]", [[New York Times]]. Accessed 29 June 2014.
57. (2015). "Tim Hetherington Visionary Award". Incisive Financial Publishing Limited.
58. "Tim Hetherington".
59. Brooks-Pollock, Tom. (15 May 2013). "How Tim's eye for a picture is still helping blind African children". [[Manchester Evening News]].
60. "[https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/tim-hetherington-photo-exhibition-set-5826953 Images of war captured in Tim Hetherington photo exhibition]", [[Liverpool Echo]]. Accessed 29 June 2014.
61. Padley, Gemma. (3 February 2015). "Tim Hetherington Trust unveils new award shortlist".
62. "Tim Hetherington". Tim Hetherington Trust.
63. (14 May 2016). "Opening Celebration & Photobook Drive: Tim Hetherington Photobook Library". Bronx Documentary Center.
64. Horaczek, Stan. (13 May 2016). "Tim Hetherington Photobook Library Opens at Bronx Documentary Center". American Photo.