Since the invention of the first photo camera in the early 1800s, journalists have explored capturing images of war. During the Crimean War of the 1850s, this idea was brought to life as one of the first examples of photography in a major military conflict. Since then, war photography has played a significant role on the battlefield, quickly telling a story of suffering and reaching a broad audience in a way text sometimes cannot.
Exposing the public to images of war can make real the hardships people in these war-torn areas endure. However, it’s easy to forget the individuals behind the camera, the war photographers who make dire sacrifices to spread awareness of what’s happening during times of conflict. Some even lose their lives. Here are ten such photographers who stand out for their bravery and for capturing images still used to teach history.
Robert Capa
Born Endre Ernő Friedmann, Capa gained fame in 1936 for his work in the Spanish Civil War, capturing the esteemed photo “Death of a Loyalist Soldier.” In 1938, he moved to the United States at the start of World War II and began freelancing for publications like LIFE Magazine. In 1941, on assignment for LIFE, Capa traveled parts of Europe and northern Africa with the U.S. Army, producing some of his best work from Omaha Beach, documenting the invasion of Normandy.
After the war, Capa co-founded Magnum Photos. He volunteered to document the First Indochina War for LIFE in 1954. While in the Thái Bình province of Vietnam, he stepped on a landmine and was killed. His career exemplified his famous quote, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
Gerda Taro
Despite a short career, Gerda Taro made a significant impact with the help of her close ties to Robert Capa. As a Jewish woman living in Leipzig, Germany, during the rise of the Nazis, she moved to France. She developed an interest in photography after meeting German photographer Tim Gidal and later Robert Capa, becoming his lover and moving in with him. While Capa was away, Taro worked as a darkroom assistant, learning the basics of photography and eventually getting a job at Alliance Photo in October 1935.
By 1936, Taro and Capa were working together for Vu magazine, covering the Spanish Civil War. By July 1937, Taro was confident enough to travel solo. On one such trip on July 25, she visited the front in Brunete, Spain, where German planes began bombing the area. While seeking shelter, a tank collided with her press vehicle, crushing her. She died of her injuries the next day, becoming the first female war photographer to die as a result of combat.
Tim Hetherington
Hetherington, with a background in literature, developed a deep interest in visual media and photojournalism. After a short time with the Big Issue, he preferred working independently on projects that highlighted human suffering. He spent eight years in Africa, documenting the Second Liberian Civil War with James Brabazon, creating the documentary Liberia: An Uncivil War.
Hetherington documented rehabilitation efforts in Africa, particularly around sports, helping child soldiers return to normal life. He briefly covered conflicts over natural resources in the Niger Delta before going to Afghanistan, where he filmed documentaries about U.S. Army soldiers’ daily lives and local civilians’ lives. In 2011, while documenting the anti-Gaddafi uprising in Libya, Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed in a mortar attack in Misrata on April 20.
Chris Hondros
Hondros, starting with a literature degree, found his calling at Getty Images as a war photographer. He gained recognition in Liberia during the Second Civil War with his image of Joseph Duo, a young man fighting since the age of 14. Hondros later reconnected with Duo, paying for him to return to school.
After his time in Africa, Hondros spent significant time in the Middle East, documenting U.S. military patrols. One incident in Tal Afar, Iraq, resulted in a powerful photograph of a child covered in blood and crying after soldiers fired on a vehicle containing six children and their parents. In 2011, Hondros traveled to Libya to document the civil war and was killed alongside Tim Hetherington by a mortar attack in Misrata on April 20.
Larry Burrows
Born in London in 1926, Burrows gained notoriety in 1962 for his nine-year documentation of the Vietnam War. Unlike most war photographers of the time, Burrows often used colored film, providing a distinct perspective. His desire to experience the war through a soldier’s eyes gave his images an intimacy rarely found.
He lived with soldiers in their camps, flew on helicopters during combat missions, and remained on the front lines. His images, like “Reaching Out” and his photo essay “One Ride with Yankee Papa 13,” captured profound moments of the war. On February 10, 1971, while flying over Laos in a helicopter, Burrows and four other war photographers were shot down, with no survivors.
Following Burrows’s death, LIFE managing editor Ralph Graves said, “Larry Burrows was the single bravest and most dedicated war photographer I know of.”
Yaser Murtaja
Murtaja, a Palestinian war photographer from Gaza, co-founded Ain Media in 2012, focusing on human rights in the region. On April 6, 2018, while covering protests in Khan Younis, Murtaja was shot in the abdomen by an Israeli sniper and died later that night.
His death sparked outrage among human rights activists and journalists. Despite claims that the IDF was targeting journalists, the IDF denied this and stated they would investigate Murtaja’s death, though no investigation was ever opened. Murtaja’s legacy lives on through his fellow journalists as conflicts in Gaza continue.
Kenji Nagai
Nagai, a Japanese war photographer working with Tokyo’s AFP News, was familiar with dangerous assignments, covering the Middle East from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. He arrived in Myanmar to document the Saffron Revolution. On September 27, 2007, in Yangon, troops fired on protesters, killing at least nine, including Nagai. Initial reports claimed Nagai was killed by a stray bullet.
Video footage showed a soldier pointing a rifle at Nagai before he fell, casting doubt on the official reports. The Japanese embassy confirmed that the trajectory of the projectile was inconsistent with a stray bullet. Whether Nagai was specifically targeted remains uncertain, but many believe it was intentional. Photographer Adrees Latif won a Pulitzer Prize for his photo of Nagai the moment he fell.
Dickey Chapelle
Chapelle started her career at TWA in New York before landing a job with National Geographic as a war photographer. Her career took off during World War II, traveling with U.S. Marines across Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She covered events in Cuba and the Hungarian Revolution, where she was jailed for smuggling medical supplies. During the Vietnam War, she traveled with U.S. military groups and became the first war photographer to parachute with troops.
On November 4, 1965, while on patrol, a marine tripped a wire, detonating a grenade. Chapelle was struck by shrapnel and died in a helicopter en route to a hospital. Despite being a civilian, she was honored by the military at her funeral and during the 50th anniversary of her memorial.
Gilles Caron
Gilles Caron, from France, made a name for himself as an exemplary war photographer. After serving in the French military, he joined APIS (Agence Parisienne d’Informations Sociales) in 1965 and later Gamma in 1967. For three years, he covered conflicts worldwide, including the Six-Day War in Israel, the Vietnam War, and the Nigerian Civil War.
In 1970, while traveling in Cambodia during the coup, Caron went missing on Khmer Rouge-controlled Route One on April 5. He was never found and was declared dead on September 22, 1978.
Army Specialist Hilda Clayton
Clayton enlisted in the military on September 21, 2011, as a Combat Documentation and Production Specialist. Assigned to the Army’s 55th Signal Company, she was deployed to the Laghman province of eastern Afghanistan.
On July 2, 2013, while documenting a joint live-fire exercise with Afghan troops in Jalalabad, a mortar malfunctioned and exploded, killing her and four Afghan National Army soldiers. Surreal images of Afghan soldiers around the exploding mortar were captured by her camera, which survived the blast.
These ten war photographers made the ultimate sacrifice to bring us the truth from the front lines. Their courage and dedication to their craft serve as a reminder of the importance of journalism and the high cost of bearing witness.
What other war photographers do you admire? Leave your comment below!
