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PORTFOLIO V Chris Hondros was a Pulitzer Prize- nominated photojournalist for Getty Images who, along with Tim Hetherington, was killed by mortar fire in April while on assignment in Libya. Hondros covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, Kosovo, Angola, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Kashmir, and the West Bank. 52 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL PORTFOLIO Windows on War CHRIS HONDROS PORTFOLIO knew Chris Hondros well enough that I can picture the genesis of this I portfolio, even though I wasn’t there when he snapped the first frame. I picture him complaining at having to ride in an airtight military vehicle, where the only perspective on the action is the view from his seat. Chris was a natural composer when he had the freedom to move around, adjusting his angle constantly, eyes darting to the corners of his viewfinder in something of a natural first edit before his finger even hit the shutter button. Being confined to a moving car or truck must have been frustrating. So what’s there to do when you’re stuck in place, removed from your sub- jects by a pane of impact-proof glass but experiment? I see so clearly his furrowed brow and pursed lips, an expression I’ve known since we met in high school in 1984, as the idea formed in his head about how to make the most of a situa- tion that was undoubtedly common dur- ing his many visits to Iraq and Afghani- stan. He used the window of the vehicle as his frame, incorporating it fully into the story he was telling rather than trying to circumvent it. As usual with Chris’s photos, the results are far more than the sum of their parts. They depict an uneasy divide between soldiers and civilians, born of the necessities of safety, but which raises perplexing questions, as the photos clearly show. Who is the enemy in this situation? Which are the liberators and which the occupiers? Where is the trust? Clearly, the answer can change depending on which side of the glass you’re on. Chris was so justifiably proud of these photos and the profound ques- tions they posed. They were a private Elders and local members of the Afghan army pray during a visit to the Outpost Restrepo. 54 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL WINDOWS ON WAR Previous: Through the window of a U.S. Army Humvee in central Herat. Two Afghan men, riding a motorcycle, watch the soldiers watching them. At that time, on October 24, 2010, Afghanistan’s third-largest city had been spared much of the violence that had engulfed the countryside. Today, political assassinations and terror attacks are common. In Kandahar, a boy rides a bicycle toward an M-ATV vehicle, the heavily armored successor to the Humvee. Mine-resistant, with innovations like thicker, irregularly shaped windows to help protect troops from deadly roadside bombs and other explosions, the world outside is as threatening to its passengers as the vehicle and its armed soldiers are to those looking in. FALL 2011 55 PORTFOLIO 56 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL WINDOWS ON WAR Afghan schoolgirls seen through the window of a Humvee seem happy to see a passing Ameri- can convoy on June 26, 2010 in downtown Herat. At that point, this historic city was bustling and considered safe by the American and Italian troops tasked with securing the region. FALL 2011 57 PORTFOLIO mission of his, beyond his daily work That sentiment is obvious throughout of chronicling the horror and may- Chris’s body of work. Consider his hem of war and those affected by it. Pulitzer-nominated picture of a Liberian Above all, he was a thinking photogra- government soldier in full rapturous pher, who often spent hours agonizing glee at scoring a direct hit on an enemy over what his photos “meant,” if anything. position, a shot with an RPG that may He was smart enough to know that they well have killed people. Or his photo of a meant many things, depending on what young Iraqi child covered in the blood of the viewer brought to the experience. her parents who were accidentally killed by I was with him in Libya the week be- an American patrol—soldiers represented fore he was killed in a mortar attack in only by a single bloodstained boot in the Misrata on April 20. A few days before, he corner of the frame. described a bit of his photographer’s phi- Chris liked to make his audience think losophy to a colleague. about his photos as much as he did, as these “We’re not really capturing history photos—looking out at the world from here,” he said. “We’re just capturing slices inside an armored Humvee—demonstrate. of it that can be interpreted many different In Libya, he told me he was working on ways. How they’re interpreted isn’t up to “something a little different,” portraits of us. We just have to be sure they’re accurate rebel soldiers in close-up. “Stuff you don’t and honest.” really see,” he said. 58 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL WINDOWS ON WAR I looked at the first round of photos on Left: At lunchtime, his laptop in a Benghazi hotel, impressed everything grinds to a halt in with the images. I was sure there’d be more Herat. Men having a picnic in and was looking forward to the final edit. a traffic median in this Afghan Beyond the personal tragedy of his loss— city have become accustomed felt by innumerable people around the to American Humvees rolling world, including not only family, friends, past their blanket tables. and colleagues, but his subjects as well— is that we’ve lost his unique viewpoint that forced us to confront difficult questions Below: Some are suspicious, others about what he has shown the world. merely curious as an M-ATV armored His window, to our great loss, is closed. vehicle rolls past them in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, just 30 miles from the volatile Pakistan Greg Campbell is the author of Blood Dia- border and a Taliban stronghold. monds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the Many of the older men have seen it World’s Most Precious Stones and other all many times before. It’s the youth books. He knew Chris Hondros since age 14. with so many questions. FALL 2011 59 Beside a windswept highway outside Herat, a lone Afghan stands as a U.S. Army Humvee passes, its passengers keep- ing close watch on the landscape and people. WINDOWS ON WAR ALL PHOTOS © CHRIS HONDROS / FALLGETT 2011Y IMAGES 61.

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