07/08/2022

Exchanging experiences and increasing opportunities to gain valuable knowledge are two very important aspects of DokuFest. Through the classes, the attendees of the festival have the opportunity to further develop their knowledge in fields known and unknown to them, from famous teachers and personalities.
Such was the masterclass that was held at noon this Sunday at the "KinoKlubi" area, in which the well-known photojournalist Paul Lowe held a lecture referring to his cycle of photographs entitled "Siege of Sarajevo". A trove of harrowing black and white images taken before and after the war documenting the events there.
"I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to document historical moments. I didn't plan to become a war photojournalist, it just happened", said Lowe at the beginning of the masterclass.
From the long queues of people waiting for water, food and other vital elements for them, to the images captured during the bombings, of the dead and injured in hospitals, to the protection of families, the daily life of others and to the resistance through art. All these images remain today focused by Lowe's lens that went and stood there telling the world what happens.
"As a photojournalist it is impossible not to have caught myself thinking that bad news is good news. That a bad news for some people is a good news for a photojournalist", he said.
According to Lowe, a reporter's job is to document, while something is happening in a case, but also follow the subsequent development of that case.
Regarding the great debate of reporters in the world, who are faced with the dilemma of whether in an event they should help the victims or document the incident, Lowe shared his position.
"Obviously, this issue is very complex and there cannot be a clear answer. If you are at an incident where there are injuries and you have a car nearby, of course your human duty calls you to evacuate the injured to the car to receive more specialized help, but your professional duty always calls you to document the event. At the end of the day, you are not the specialized person to give help, there have been cases in which the giving of this help by non-specialized people instead of saving them has killed the injured."
At the end of the masterclass, photojournalist Paul Lowe took the time to answer all the questions that the attendees had in order to quench their interest in this mysterious, dangerous, but necessary profession for all of us who can learn from his eyes what we can’t see with our owns.

By Ana Haxhimali

Photo Credits: Gerd Waliszewski