Yesterday, I saw on a Facebook post that Tim Hetherington had been killed in Libya.  Apparently, the wires picked it up from Andre Liohn’s Facebook post.  No surprise, as we all know that social networking sites are breaking news each day, and breaking regimes in the Middle East as well.  It’s a major tragedy for us all.

Two weeks ago, I watched “Restrepo,” for the first time.  Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger both made a film about, and in, the most extreme battle zone in Afghanistan.  They experienced the war, and lived with the brave soldiers, because they believed that people needed to see the reality for themselves.  They captured the dust, depression and determination of a group of men who would have otherwise been anonymous. 

I happened to watch the Oscar winning film “The Hurt Locker” on the same day, an unplanned and slightly perverse endeavor.  It was more than clear to me that Hetherington’s narrative was a far more successful piece of art:  a tense dose of geo-political reality made for a culture over-saturated with silly fame-grabbers who’ve practically denuded the term “reality” of any meaning at all.  “Restrepo” was the best film I’ve seen in a long time.  A must see for every American.

So when I read the FB post about his possible demise, I was hurt and saddened but not shocked.  I like to make work in the comfort of my studio.  I like to play with ideas and make people think.  It’s safe.  I have a wife and a kid.  And I don’t understand what it feels like to risk one’s life in order to disseminate vital information for and to everyone.

We are all the lesser for this loss.  In a world where journalists and artists are increasingly at risk, where Ai Weiwei can be locked away and Serrano’s “Piss Christ” can be destroyed out of hate and ignorance, the world needs more brave souls like Tim Hetherington.