James Nachtwey

Documentary Photographer

James Nachtwey was born in 1948 and raised in Massachusetts before attending Dartmouth College. Moved by powerful imagery of the Vietnam War, he taught himself the art of photography and became a photojournalist, first with an Albuquerque, N.M., newspaper, and then under contract to TIME magazine. His first experience in conflict photography came during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, after which he documented turbulent events in South Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He has been wounded several times in the course of his work, most seriously in Iraq in 2003. The subject of the documentary film War Photographer, Nachtwey is the recipient of numerous recognitions for his work, including five Robert Capa Gold Medals from the Overseas Press Club and two World Press Photo.

Documentary Photographer James Nachtwey walking the Sunken Road at Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Md. Matt Brant