The Vietnam War was the first and last war without censorship. The military actively encouraged press involvement, and Page went everywhere, covering everything.
NAM Contact explores Tim’s contact sheets and the art of capturing the perfect 35mm frame. Known for his colour images, this is the first look into his archive of B&W frames. They are Page’s visual diaries, observations, and storyboards of humanity and inhumanity through war.
Tim Page, iconic photographer of the Vietnam War. As an activist and photojournalist, he pushed the boundaries of press freedom.
Tim Page left England at 17 to travel across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Nepal. He found himself in Laos during the civil war and worked as a stringer for United Press International. From there, he moved on to Saigon, where he covered the Vietnam War for the next five years, working mainly on assignments for TIME-LIFE, UPI, PARIS MATCH and ASSOCIATED PRESS. He also found time to cover the Six-Day War in the Middle East in 1967. The role of war photographer suited Page’s craving for danger and excitement. He became an iconic photographer of the Vietnam War, and his pictures inspired many films of that period. The photojournalist in ‘Apocalypse Now’, played by Dennis Hopper was based on Page.
He was wounded four times, once by ‘friendly fire’ and the last time was when he jumped out of a helicopter to help load the injured, and the person in front of him stepped on a landmine. He was pronounced DOA at the hospital. He required extensive neuro-surgery and spent most of the seventies in recovery.
It was while he was recovering in hospital in the spring of 1970 that he learnt that his best friend, housemate and fellow photographer Sean Flynn, son of Hollywood actor Errol, had gone missing in Cambodia. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s Page’s mission was to discover the fate and final resting place of his friend and to erect a memorial to all those in the media who were either killed or went missing in the war. This led him to found the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation and was the genesis for the book ‘REQUIEM’. With his friend Horst Faas, photo editor for Associated Press and double Pulitzer Prize winner, they co-edited the book. They commemorated the work of all the dead and the missing, from all nations, who were lost in the thirty-year struggle for liberation. REQUIEM: The exhibition is now permanently displayed at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.
Tim Page is the subject of many documentaries, two films and the author of ten books. He spent five months in 2009 as the Photographic Peace Ambassador for the UN in Afghanistan and received many awards. He was named one of the ‘100 Most Influential Photographers of All Time’ for his war photography and interest and passion for covering the aftermath of war and bringing the world’s attention to the plight of the innocent victims – the bystanders. He regularly returned to Vietnam and Cambodia to run photo workshops and photograph the mine and Agent Orange victims since the war ended. Since arriving in Australia, Tim has also covered East Timor and The Solomon Islands.
He passed away at his home in Bellingen in 2022.
Kickstart our month-long festival of the arts with music, photography, and community on the shores of the dazzling Bondi Beach. Be the first to know who won the 2024 Head On Photo Awards and get a taste of the photographs redefining visual storytelling.
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