This is a special feature section of the New York Times and is an example of the very best in present day photo journalism. Writing skill aren't always needed. Passion, sympathy, empathy are all great things for a journalist to have. Maybe essential.

January 8, 2010, 12:01 AM
Showcase: No Relief and Little Attention
By AMBER BENHAM

Sexual violence, civilian casualties, child soldiers, wounded refugees and malnutrition — there is no shortage of suffering in Congo.

And that is what engaged the attention of Cédric Gerbehaye, 32, who left journalism school with some basic photography skills, determined to pursue conflicts like the brutal fighting among militias and the Congolese army, which has been going on more than a decade with little interest from Western journalists.

He was selected in 2007 as one of 12 promising young photojournalists to participate in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. The contest theme was fragility. He set out to show the human consequences of the failed peace process in eastern Congo. The nonprofit organization Aviation Sans Frontières, which offers humanitarian aid, allowed him to join flights — in a small Cessna — into rebel zones and camps for internally displaced persons in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. He spent two months photographing the people whose lives had been devastated, as well as rebels and soldiers — adults and children.

On two subsequent trips over the next year, Mr. Gerbehaye tagged along with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), traveling to hospitals and remote areas where displaced people, sick and wounded, sought help. The photos he took — many of them portraits — focus on victims rather than violence.

“I’m not looking for the combat,” he said. “I’m interested in trying to tell the story of the people.”

Mr. Gerbehaye worked with Doctors Without Borders to create a multimedia feature, “Condition: Critical, Voices From the War in Eastern Congo,” which combines his photos with video segments and audio interviews by staff members of the aid organization.

He considers himself a journalist first, then a photographer. He uses black-and-white film, rather than a digital card, to capture the grainy, imperfect reality around him.

As a young photojournalist, he was deeply affected by images of the Vietnam War and, more recently, of tortured prisoners at Abu Ghraib. He doesn’t consider himself a conflict photographer. He prefers the term “concerned photographer.” His work is focused on using images to bring issues that have been overlooked by the media — often violent conflicts — out into the open, “so that people cannot just hide.”

“If there is only a slight possibility that it has an impact, it’s my duty to do it,” Mr. Gerbehaye said. “So that people cannot say, ‘We didn’t know, we had no clue.’”
Other Lens posts have focused on the efforts of photographers to draw attention to the devastating conditions in Congo. “Behind the Scenes: Suffering Writ Large” (Oct. 19, 2009) concerned an exhibit at the United Nations showing victims of sexual violence. “Showcase: Uneasy Congo” (Sept. 1, 2009) highlighted the work of Dominic Nahr.