Epoch Times to Host Benefit Forum Honoring Fallen Photographers

Photographer and documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington speaks at a forum, 'A Conversation on Liberia and Afghanistan' on Dec. 8 at New York University. (Aloysio Santos/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—The Epoch Times will host a panel of renowned photographers on the evening of May 4, who will share their recent work in Bahrain, Egypt, and Libya.

The forum is part of an Epoch Times series called Ground View, which features world-class photojournalists and filmmakers who have reported on and witnessed some of the world’s most important news firsthand.

The Wednesday event, which will be held at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute in New York City, will feature Lynsey Addario, Ron Haviv, and Spencer Platt. It will be moderated by veteran photojournalist and war photographer Robert Nickelsberg.

All profit from the event will go to a journalist assistance fund for Reporters Without Borders in memory of Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington.

Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington were both participants in past Ground View forums. In December 2009, Hetherington shared his work in Liberia and Afghanistan, including photographs that were later included in his book Infidel, which was published in 2011.

Hetherington’s work in Liberia and Afghanistan and his unconventional style of capturing images were the original inspiration for the Ground View forum series. Due to the overwhelming response to his presentation, The Epoch Times turned the one-time event into a series dedicated to showcasing the work of photographers and filmmakers, like Hetherington was.

Hondros was the moderator in a December 2010 forum with VII Network photographer Ashley Gilbertson, who shared his work on photographing PTSD. Before leaving to report in Libya in early April, Hondros was involved in planning a third Ground View forum that was tentatively planned for late May.

The event planned with Hondros was intended to be an evening of discussion about recent events in Egypt, where he had reported. After The Epoch Times learned the news of his death, the theme of the panel was expanded to include a discussion on events from Egypt to Libya.

Lynsey Addario is an award-winning American photojournalist based in New Delhi, India, where she photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine. In March 2011, she was taken captive along with three other journalists while working in Libya.

Ron Haviv is an award-winning photojournalist and co-founder of VII photo agency. He photographed the unrest in Egypt, including Tahrir Square in Cairo, earlier this year.

Spencer Platt has been a photographer for Getty Images since 2001. He recently photographed inside Libya and captured images of some of the tens of thousands of guest workers from Egypt, Tunisia, Bangladesh and other countries who have fled to the border of Tunisia amid fighting in Libya.

More information about the event can be found online at www.theepochtimes.com/groundview.