Today the film and journalist community has lost one of its bravest brothers as news reports have confirmed the death of Tim Hetherington. Mr Hetherington was an acclaimed British conflict photojournalist and co-director of the wartime documentary Restrepo which was nominated by the Academy for a Best Documentary in this past Academy Awards ceremony.

Mr. Hetherington was in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata when he suffered wounds from an RPG attack on April 20, 2011 that he would soon die from. Three other photojournalists working side-by-side with Mr. Hetherington were also  wounded with two of the photographers in severe to grave conditions (Chris Hondros and Guy Martin). The third photographer, Michael Christopher Brown, suffered non-life threatening injuries during the attack.

The loss of Mr. Hetherington is a blow to the documentary community and to the community of photojournalists who has taken it upon themselves to report and record the conflicts going around the world. Mr. Hetherington’s work on bringing to light the day-to-day life of American soldiers fighting in one of the most dangerous combat zones in the world with Restrepo has earned him accolades from colleagues and has earned him friends with the very subjects he chose to cover.

It is a sad day indeed this April 20, 2011. Tim Hetherington has been taken too early and his name and legacy will live on through his past work and the lives he helped cover and change through work he loved to do best.

EDIT: News has now come down that fellow photojournalist Chris Hondros has also died from wounds suffered during the same attack which took the life of war correspondent and docu-filmmaker Tim Hetherington.

Source: New York Times