Join ICP for a special book program honoring the work of David Gilkey, a celebrated conflict photographer who helped NPR bring vivid life to big and small stories with global impact before he was killed on assignment in Helmand, Afghanistan in 2016.
In a new book from powerHouse, Pictures of the Radio, Gilkey’s work is highlighted, showing images taken on assignments in Afghanistan, Haiti, Gaza, and other locations around the globe while he captured conflict, natural disasters and other critical stories. The book includes recollections of Gilkey in essays by NPR correspondents who knew and worked with him, including Jason Beaubien, Ari Shapiro, David Greene, Julie McCarthy, and Eric Westervelt.
During this special event moderated by ICP’s managing director of programs, David Campany, hear from the editors of the book—Quil Lawrence and Chip Somodevilla, and Ariel Zambelich, as well as Lynsey Addario and other colleagues and long-time friends of Gilkey, for an evening celebrating the work of this important photojournalist.
This event is free. Reserve your copy of Pictures on the Radio through ICP’s shop.
About the Program Format
This program will take place on Zoom. Those who register to attend will receive a confirmation email with a link located at the bottom of the email under ‘Important Information’ to join the lecture through a computer or mobile device.
We recommend participants download the Zoom app on their device prior to the program. Learn how to download the latest version of Zoom to your computer or mobile device.
If you have not received the Zoom link by 2 PM on the day of the lecture or if you have questions about the virtual lecture, please contact: programs@icp.org.
About Pictures on the Radio
Pictures on the Radio compiles the work of David Gilkey, a celebrated conflict photographer who helped NPR bring vivid life to big and small stories with global impact. Known for chronicling pain and beauty in war and conflict, he was on assignment in Helmand, Afghanistan in 2016 when he and NPR’s Afghan interpreter, Zabihullah Tamanna were killed by a Taliban ambush of their convoy. Considered one of the best photojournalists in the world, his death made headlines around the country and the globe.
The nine chapters in Pictures on the Radio include photographs from assignments in Afghanistan, Haiti, and Gaza covering war, natural disasters, and political strife, but also a surreal journey on the tran-Siberian railroad, a voyage down the Ganges, and coverage of American war-veterans showcasing Gilkey’s range as a photojournalist whose work captured the strength and fragility of our humanity and our planet. An essay by NPR correspondents—including Jason Beaubien, Ari Shapiro, David Greene, Julie McCarthy, and Eric Westervelt—who accompanied David on assignment introduces each chapter of award-winning photographs and an afterword by Alyda Gilkey paints a portrait of the man behind the camera.
Pictures on the Radio continues David Gilkey’s lifelong mission of connecting Americans to the frontlines far beyond their shores. The drama, beauty and dignity of his subjects continue to move the heart and the conscience.
About David Gilkey
David Patrick Gilkey began his professional career in South Africa where he joined some of the world’s most famous photojournalists covering violence in the townships. A half a dozen wars later (Somalia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq), David hit his stride working for the Detroit Free Press. While there his coverage of the Michigan Marine unit through an entire deployment to Iraq won an Emmy Award.
David joined NPR in 2007, continuing to cover conflict and international news. During his tenure at NPR, he received the George Polk Award for his coverage of the U.S. military, won the Robert F. Kennedy award for his coverage of Haiti, the Peabody Award and Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of Ebola, and was named Still Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association.
Speakers
Quil Lawrence is an award-winning correspondent for NPR News, covering veterans' issues nationwide. Lawrence started his career in radio by interviewing con men in Tangier, Morocco. He then moved to Bogota, Colombia, and covered Latin America for NPR, the BBC, and the Los Angeles Times. Starting in 2000, Quil covered Iraq and Afghanistan for twelve years, serving as NPR's Bureau Chief in Baghdad and Kabul. Since 2012 Quil has covered veterans.
Chip Somodevilla met David Gilkey at the Detroit Free Press and they covered the Iraq war together. He is now a senior staff photographer for Getty Images based in Washington, DC, covering US politics. Among the many awards Somodevilla and his work have won are the Michigan Press Photographer of the Year, Political Photo of the Year and Photographer of the Year from The White House News Photographers Association. He and his team at Getty were finalists for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize and he was named Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association in 2019. A graduate of the University of North Texas, he lives in Maryland with his wife, son, and daughter.
David Campany is a curator, writer, and managing director of programs at the International Center of Photography, New York. His books include On Photographs (2020), A Handful of Dust (2015), Art and Photography (2003), Jeff Wall: Picture for Women (2011), Walker Evans: the Magazine Work (2014), and The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip (2014).
Ariel Zambelich worked extensively with David Gilkey as the former Supervising Editor of Photography for NPR Visuals. Currently she’s a National and Politics photo editor for The Wall Street Journal, where she collaborates with the newsroom to tell stories through visual journalism and design. She is a board member with the Authority Collective, an organization that aims to empower marginalized artists with resources and community. Her photojournalism has appeared in WIRED, the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, California Sunday Magazine, Etiqueta Negra, and The Fader, among others.
Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist, who has been covering conflict and humanitarian crises around the Middle East and Africa on assignment for the New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, and Time Magazine for almost two decades. Since September 11, 2001, Addario has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Darfur, South Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She recently travelled to Yemen for the New York Times Magazine.
Addario is the recipient of numerous awards, including a MacArthur fellowship, a Pulitzer prize, The Overseas Press Club's Olivier Rebbot Award, and two Emmy nominations. She holds two Honorary Doctorate Degrees for her professional accomplishments from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Bates Collage in Maine. In 2015, Addario wrote a New York Times best-selling memoir, It's What I Do, which chronicles her personal and professional life as a photojournalist coming of age in the post-9/11 world. In October 2018, Addario is released her first solo collection of photography, Of Love and War, published by Penguin Press.
