Dan Eldon: Video Response

Dan Eldon: Dying To Tell a Story

                Amy Eldon created a short film in memoriam of her brother, a war journalist. I feel she made this film not only to expose the frantic lives of photo journalists, but also in order to gain her own closure pertaining to her brother’s death. This film was an eye opener that uncovered the untold stories of photojournalists. Likewise, this film also tackled the controversial question of why, why a photo journalist does what they do. The appearances made by various other well-known photo journalists also helped to do so. The film was gripping, heart wrenching and truly illustrated the bittersweet lives that the photojournalists lead.

                Throughout the film Amy travels to speak to various photo journalists. Des Wright, Martin Bell, Christiane Amanpour, Dan McCullen, Carrie Dufka and Mohamed Shaffi  are a few of the names of reporters she speaks with. Each reporter shared their experiences with photo journalism and each person brought something different to the table. One of the most compelling interviews that Amy did was with Martin Bell. In my opinion Bell truly seemed affected by the things he witnessed. His words seemed genuine. Bell discussed the work he did in Bosnia and since I come from a Bosnian background, I was very compelled and interested in the words he spoke. With the sharing of his experience, I feel that I was able to learn a lot about my own history and it was very eye opening. I felt very sympathetic for my people when Bell shared his stories because I got to see what they went through first hand.  Bell also said one line in particular that was very unforgettable, he said “We can’t be heroes because we can get out whenever we want”. This line was very touching to me because it encompassed the internal conflict that these photojournalists face. They feel as though they are making the rest of the world aware of the severe issues that are occurring, however they can never truly be heroes because they aren’t put into the perspectives of the people suffering. They are able to leave whenever they please and that is a luxury the people of wars do not have. Bell also elaborated on this idea further when he was shot. He said he was “ashamed that he was treated”, due to the fact that hundreds of civilians were dying. This adds to the guilt factor that many photojournalists feel while working.             

                 The film expanded on this idea of guilt more when Dan McCullen spoke about his guilt when photographing certain things. McCullen shared several personal and haunting moments in his career when he felt great guilt. One in particular was when he photographed a women without her consent and she began to yell and scream at him. He later shared that that women had died later that day. McCullen said “I was shocked at my own indiscretion”. This story is just one example of the great guilt that many photojournalists experience while working. They feel guilty due to the fact that they are capturing people at their weakest moment and they aren’t specifically helping them. Carlos Mavrolean elaborated on this by saying, “we capture the basic human fight for survival”.  In spite of this, many other photojournalists shared how they learned to differentiate what’s significant and needs to be captured and when to put the camera down. Carrie Dufka explained this by simply saying, “You have to be human first and a photographer second”.

Despite the momentous work that photojournalists do, some people feel that photojournalists are ‘crazy’ for doing this. They feel that photojournalists completely disregard the situation they’re in, in order to take a picture. However, despite this opinion I feel that the work that photojournalists do is extremely significant and noteworthy. Their photos are some of the most powerful descriptions of the war that could ever exist, aside from actually being in a war. Des Wright and Carlos Mavrolean said, “There’s no better education than photography” and I agree with this wholeheartedly. When pertaining to war especially, seeing a physical photo is much more powerful than reading about a war. Photojournalist allow people to witness the atrocities and feel the raw emotions, and that is something very heroic and sacred.

Amy Eldon’s documentary, Dying to Tell the Story, was a very informative and well put together documentary. I personally enjoyed it very much both as a student and as a person who experienced the repercussions of war first hand. The story about Dan was very heartbreaking yet at the end I felt closure, as I’m sure Amy did as well. I felt closure because of one particular quote that Christiane Amanpour said. She said, “Certain people have to do certain things and people may think they’re mad”. I feel that this quote explains the lives of many photojournalists perfectly. They do what they do simply because they have to. It is a calling from within them that drives them to take these miraculous pictures despite the negative opinions others may have. When Amy realized this I feel that she truly gained closure about her brother’s death. Being a viewer, this part of the documentary was very compelling and fulfilling. Overall, the documentary reflected the need that photojournalists feel to do what they do. Mohamed Shaffi said that photojournalists give “what the world wants to see” and with this I agree wholeheartedly.

This was a response I  wrote to the Dan Eldon film called Dying to Tell the story. The film was centered around a young war photojournalist, Dan Eldon, who died while working. His sister made this film in order to gain closure for his death as well as to tackle the controversy associated around war journalists and whether their work was necessary. Overall, my response shared my feelings about the topic. I enjoyed this project because it was very different from our usual projects. However it was a little hard to get through since I do have personal connections to the topics mentioned.