I recently saw War Photographer, a documentary about one of my personal heroes, James Nachtwey, considered by many the greatest war photographer ever. The film was both moving and incredibly disturbing, but having pored over Natchwey's photos, I was expecting that.

What I really enjoyed about the film was seeing the methodology of this great photographer. The documentary film makers attached a micro-videocamera onto Natchwey's Canon 1-V so that you could see over his trigger finger right into the action he was shooting. You could see him change shutter speeds and aperture settings. I saw that he used 400 speed film, which is a surprise since his pictures are so sharp. You could see how meticulous he was about taking notes, and about keeping his camera clean in less than ideal circumstances. You could see how he traveled. You could see how interacted with his subject matter. You could see how close he was to the action. It was amazing.

If you want to check out some of Natchwey's work, and I highly recommend it, though it's not for the faint of heart, here are some sites:

James Natchwey's site
www.jamesnachtwey.com/

Salon: James Nachtwey
http://dir.salon.com/people/feature/2000/04/10/inferno/index.html

Times - James Natchwey
http://wtc10048nyc.free.fr/174.html