Tim Hetherington Biography

Tim Hetherington, a photographer and filmmaker, was killed while covering the escalating violence in Misrata, Libya. At the time of his death, he was working along side three other photographers on the city's front lines when they came under fire. Chris Hondros, a photographer for Getty Images and friend of Hetherington, died of brain trauma from the attack. At least eight other civilians were killed in the fighting that day. As a filmmaker, Hetherington worked as a cameraman, director, and producer. Liberia: An Uncivil War (2004), the first documentary he worked on, as an assistant producer and cameraman, was also his first time filming warfare. During the filming, a rebel commander threatened to execute a doctor who was tending to injured rebels. Hetherington pleaded for the doctor's life and grabbed the gun from the commander. Hetherington was best known for the Oscar nominated 2010 Afghan war documentary, Restrepo, which he produced and co-directed with Sebastian Junger. He also served as producer / director on Channel 4's Unreported World - Nigeria: Fire in the Delta (2006) and as a cameraman on The Devil Came on Horseback (2007), a documentary about the Sudanese militia attacks on Chad. His photography career began at the Big Issue, the magazine sold by London's homeless. From there he moved on to work as a freelance photographer for the Independent and, later on, for magazines like Vanity Fair. In 2007, he was awarded the World Press photo of the year for his portrait of an exhausted US soldier in Korengal. He was also a member of the UN panel of experts on Liberia and worked with the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Throughout his career, he repeatedly traveled to areas of violence, bringing back portraits of soldiers and civilians affected by the conflicts. He died doing just that.