Channel Photographics presents Desert Diaries: Photojournalists on the War in Iraq

Book combines stunning photography with the personal remembrances of photographers who covered the conflict in Iraq.

(PRWEB) July 16, 2003 -- The shooting war in Iraq effectively lasted twenty-two days. For most of us, it was a blur of images. As time passes, our collective memory of this conflict will be reduced to the few images that emerge as iconic in the context of a highly politicized aftermath. But how can we achieve a deeper understanding? How can we fully grasp the human consequences of the war in Iraq? One way is to look behind the pictures and into the hearts and minds of the photojournalists who covered the conflict. Desert Diaries: Photojournalists on the War in Iraq mines the emotional landscape that elaborates on the images.

Inspired by the powerful work of twenty-four photographers documenting the conflict in Iraq, Desert Diaries features some of the most important image-makers of our time - from Pulitzer-prize winner David Turnley to Benjamin Lowy, a 23-year-old newcomer covering his first war from an embedded position with the 101st Airborne, who quickly earned two covers for Time magazine. The photographers come from five countries and include such bold voices as Lynsey Addario, a woman under 30 who has been working in the Middle East for several years, and noted French photojournalists Patrick Robert and Christophe Calais.

Desert Diaries goes deeper than the analysis of generals, politicians, and historians. These photographers covered the war from Baghdad, from the Kurdish-dominated north, and from the Shiite-dominated south. They worked in embedded positions and unilaterally, freelance and on assignment, on the front lines and in the outskirts. In their pursuit of the story behind the story, they became intimately acquainted with the human consequences of this war.

The images speak fo themselves - death, displacement, boredom, fear, escape, loss, triumph, and more. Desert Diaries combines that visual narrative with the remembered experiences of the photojournalists themselves, taken from the actual journals they kept and from telephone interviews conducted in June. While each diary excerpt represents the unique observations and insights of its author, taken together they trace a poignant arc between warmth and truth that reflects the experience of every journalist who covered this war.

With an introduction by Reza, the book releases worldwide in October 2003 following its September premiere at the Visa Pour LImage festival in Perpignan, France. All text will appear in both English and French. All images in the book are represented by Corbis.

First serial rights are available.
Price: $39.95
Trim Size: 9 1/8 x 10 inches
Extent: 192 pages
One hundred four-color reproductions