Annie Leibovitz and James Nachtwey

James Nachtwey borns on March 14, 1948, he is an American photojournalist and war photographer, who worked for newspapers, like Albuquerque Journal. Then he documenting wars, conflicts and social issues in Kosovo, South Africa, Afghanistan and other countries from the world.
Annie Leibovitz borns on October 2, 1949, she is an American portrait photographer who worked for the magazine Rolling Stones for years and made a number of famous portraits wich includes a portrait shooting of Queen Elizabeth II and John Lennon with his wife.




South Africa, 1992 - Xhosa young men in rite of passage
"The way you do your job determines how people understand the reality"
(James Nachtwey)



Kosovo, 1999 - Ruins of Djacovica, destroyed by Serbs.

"I have been a witness, and these pictures are
my testimony. The events I have recorded should
not be forgotten and must not be repeated." (James Nachtwey)

The photographers Nachtwey and Lebovitz are contrasting in the way that the pictures can be interpreted. The latter’s pictures shows what her audience want to see: beauty, sophistication, art, elite cultural, fashion, and celebrities. This as a whole represents a fantasy that most people find admirable and would like to be in.
Whereas, Nachtwey’s photos represent some kind of reality wich her audience are probably not used to seeing; poverty, war, injustice, genocide and tragedy.




But both represent: culture
What is culture? It is difficult to define or explain what it means, but it is something that most people talk about, recognize and know have acquired.
For example, I am from Brazil and now I am living in Japan, if some behavior of mine is different from a Japanese person, we would both understand that is its from our respective culture. Even though the cultures contrast. With time, it can be easier to understand more of a culture and comprehend different aspects. Like in this case, both photographer’s do field work in order to be part of the cultures they represent in their photos.





We can use ``culture’’ to justify injustice, war, colonialism, imperialism. And we can use “culture” to admire, comprehend and respect the differences.


Culture is ‘’an ordered system of meaning and symbols…in terms of wich individuals define their world, express their feeling and make their judgments’’.
(Clifford Geertz, 1973)



Source:
(http://media.photobucket.com)
(http://www.jamesnachtwey.com)
(www.camilaiberofoto.blogspot.com)
http://rubendariobuitron.wordpress.com/2009/01/10/