Tim Hetherington, combat photographer and co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo, was killed Wednesday in a mortar attack in Libya.
1. He was a prize-winning photographer.
Accolades included a Fellowship from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (2000-4), a Hasselblad Foundation grant (2002), four World Press Photo prizes including the World Press Photo of the Year 2007, the Rory Peck Award for Features (2008), and an Alfred I. duPont award (2009).
READ: Filmmakers risked their lives to shoot DGA-nominated ‘Restrepo’
2. Hetherington studied literature at Oxford University.
Before becoming a photographer, the Liverpool native was educated at Oxford as a literature student, then returned to college to study photojournalism.
3. Referred to Hollywood as a “freakin’ nightmare” compared to Afghanistan.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hetherington and Restrepo co-director Sebastian Junger said navigating the Hollywood system was more difficult than shooting their doc in a war zone.
4. Worked for the United Nations in 2006.
In 2006, Hetherington worked as an investigator for the United Nations Security Council’s Liberia Sanctions Committee.
5. He made history by living behind rebel lines during Liberia’s civil war.
According to the BBC, Hetherington was the only Western photographer to have lived behind rebel lines during the Liberian civil war.
