Meeting Timothy Fadek

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We met with Timothy Fadek, conflict photographer, at der Institut fur Fotografische Bildung. http://www.timothyfadek.com/ (You might want to check out his photos.)


He has taken pictures in Cairo, Haiti, Bangledesh, Iraq to name a few.


9 months ago Fadek moved from New York to Berlin. Much easier, not to mention cheaper, to hop on a plane to Athens from Berlin, which is what he did this morning.


“They don’t give assignments to people who are still at home– you have to be there,” Fadek said.


Berlin is much closer geographically to the places that he works in. He went to Cairo, in November to shoot the “non-revolution, or revolution that failed, but a second mini-revolution started, and I happened to be there.”


We asked about how he protects himself as he deliberately walks right into the conflict. He’s got a flak jacket, but doesn’t use it. He says it gives you a false sense of security, “like you’re ninja turtles.” Its better for you to feel fear. Or more of a hyper awareness of your vulnerability(maybe fear’s too strong a word).


“I got shot twice with rubber bullets– I didn’t know rubber bullets could go through plywood.”


He pulled up a picture on the projector of a man with blood over his face, “This happened every 10 seconds.” There was a nasty Eqyptian cop, they called him the eye-hunter, who deliberately aimed at people’s face to knock their eyes out.”


You have to choose a side– never between, with the cops, you’ll be safe, but– “The protestors will be setting fire to trucks — not cops.” You have to always trust your instincts.


“I’ve had dozens and dozens of close-calls,” Fadek said, but the most important thing is– don’t drink the water.


“Sometimes you’ll be in a situation where no one else can help, and you have to put your camera down. You’re a person first, photographer second.”


Timothy Fadeck finished NYU at 21, where he studied marketing and then went into the advertising business. At 29, he dropped off a portfolio of pictures at the New York Times and got his first job as a photographer.

 

 

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