Guatemala. Clergy traveled in military helicopters to the mass of Pope John Paul II in the war zone. Fra Deeds of War, 1983

James Nachtwey grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Dartmouth College, where he studied art history and political science. Images from the Vietnam War and the American civil rights movement had a powerful effect on him and were instrumental in his decision to become a photographer. In 1976 Nachtwey started work as a newspaper photographer in New Mexico. In 1980 he moved to New York to begin a career as a freelance magazine photographer. His first foreign assignment was to cover civil strife in Northern Ireland in 1981 during the IRA hunger strike. Since then, Nachtwey has devoted himself to documenting wars, conflicts, and critical social issues.