All obituaries are hard to write, but some are tougher than others. It’s truly sad to have to report that talented Restrepo co-director and dedicated war photographer Tim Hetherington has been killed while covering the fighting in the Libyan town of Misrata.
Hetherington, born in 1970, had been covering war zones and trouble spots for years, travelling everywhere from West Africa to Afghanistan and most recently – fatefully – Libya.
A tough-skinned realist, he looked to bring the harsh realities of lives in combat to the world’s attention, and won several prizes for his work documenting wars, suffering and fear.
“I don’t go to war for the adrenaline rush. I cover wars because that’s what I’ve ended up doing,” is how he described his career to Empire when we talked to him last year when Restrepo, based on his experiences ebedded with troops in Afghanistan, came out. The documentary, which Hetherington crafted alongside fellow Vanity Fair contributor Sebastian Junger, ended up with the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at Sundance and scored a well-deserved Oscar nomination.
"Tim was one of the bravest photographers and filmmakers I have ever met," ABC News' James Goldston tells The Hollywood Reporter. "During his shooting for the Nightline specials he very seriously broke his leg on a night march out of a very isolated forward operating base that was under attack. He had the strength and character to walk for four hours through the night on his shattered ankle without complaint and under fire, enabling that whole team to reach safety."
Fellow correspondent Chris Hondros was also reportedly killed (though that has yet to be confirmed) and two others, Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown were injured in the incident.
For more from Hetherington, take a look at our full interview with him. He’ll be sorely missed.