The Power of REQUIEM

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From: Bill Mattick MIME-Version: 1.0 To: dirck.halstead@pressroom.com Subject: Requiem X-Priority: 3 (Normal)

Dirck--It has not been my job to photograph conflicts like the photographers in Requiem. Instead I have tried over the last twenty five years to document the peculiar vagaries of the American culture and to express by way of my pictures the most unusual and unique aspects of a particular people. I have though always been attracted to the work of "war" photographers: for the form that they employ, for the adventurism implied by their pictures and most importantly because they like no other photographers bear witness in an extreme sense to events that compel all reasonable people to search their souls and reexamine their motives.

I experienced the war in Indonesia as college/street protest, safely, voyeuristically but with a strong, emotional sense of the wrongness of our government's involvement there. All at once in a burst of youthful, political spirit that lasted no more than several years, I expelled my energy to protest as often as I could against that injustice. In the thirty years since the war, memories have dimmed, my passion has become more cultural and less political. I have not thought much about the war except for a brief and moving visit to the memorial wall in Washington DC in the early 90's. But now this incredible book comes into my life. I did not expect to be so overwhelmed.

I can only say now from my heart that I honor each and every one of these remarkable picture makers. Whether they were obsessed by the danger or genuinely compelled to show the hideous face of war, they have left us a document so intensely descriptive and transcendent, so filled with the echoes of their souls and the agony of the experience, that ordinary praise seems inadequate. No attempt at describing the place or the experience of Viet Nam or Cambodia has come close to the perfect authenticity of this volume.

Thank you for bringing it to my attention and my most grateful acknowledgment to Horst Faas and Tim Page. I will never think of that war in the same way again. This book has been a landmark experience for me.

All the Best BILL MATTICK

-- Bill Mattick (bendinah@ix.netcom.com), November 30, 1997

Answers

I would like to offer my congradulations to Tim Page and Horst Faas on the tremendous achievement of REQUIEM

-- Robert Jacobs (dispatches@classic.msn.com), January 28, 1998.

I would like to offer my congradulations to Tim Page and Horst Faas on the tremendous achievement of REQUIEM. It is a beautiful and eloquent tribute to those men and women who died bring these pictures back from the edge. I was especially moved by the moments of tenderness seen in these pictures: battle-fatigued soldiers huudled together in a muddied trench; a medic cradling the head of a wounded buddy; a crew chief weeping. All of these images help to remind us of our capacity for kindness and compassion, even amidst the most intolerable squalor and chaos. I think it is fitting that these photographers are all gathered here, for as varied and different as they may have been, they all share one terrible and beautiful secret, and I believe this book helps bring peace to their memory.

Sincerely,

Robert Jacobs

-- Robert Jacobs (dispatches@classic.msn.com), January 28, 1998.


Having served two tours in Vietnam from 69-72, I tried to take photographs of importance but alas the slides faded away and the photos were destroyed by rain damage. Then my cameras were stolen in Oakland, just prior to boarding a flight back to Nam. My memories are still fresh in my mind and Requiem has reignited the flame to illuminate a time we should never forget. Requiem will have a place of honor next to Neil Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie". Keep up the good work.

-- Roy Ferrari (rjsf@voicenet.com), August 26, 1998.

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