By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
WHAT makes a war photojournalist put their life at risk for a photo?
Nadja Kostich, who directs Bare Witness – a play on a ‘wolf pack’ of photojournalists who drop into wars in Bosnia, East Timor and Iraq – says she doesn’t really know.
For some, it might be the noble need to “make a difference”, she says. Whether the graphic images are consumed as a kind of pornography by readers is another question.
“The photojournalists have to be particular individuals who want to return and immerse themselves in war zones. They forge strong bonds with each other and immediately find their home ground in these places.
“But when they have children they start not going right into the danger zone and find another way of reporting.”
In the play, coming to the Drum Theatre next month, Kostich sets up a “very physical” choreography to convey the “incredible tension and extremes of life and death” of the job.
A reminder of the perils was the murder of US-born war correspondent Marie Colvin in Syria this year.
“She was retrieving her parties’ shoes to go to the next place and that’s when she was shot,” Kostich says.
“At some places, you could cry ‘journalist’ and you could expect some protection. But in some wars, journalists have been a target.”
Scriptwriter Mari Lourey based the play on real-life experiences of these war correspondents.
In one scene, a young photographer questions a veteran snapper who moves a body into the light.
“Would you have her in the dark so the world can’t see it?” he retorts.
Bare Witness will be staged at the Drum Theatre in Dandenong at 8pm on September 8. Bookings: 97716666.
