The Digital Journalist
© David Leeson

Search Party. Iraq

3rd Infantry Division soldiers from Fort Benning, Georgia, disembark from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle to surround a man who was stopped for suspicious activity somewhere in Iraq. An AK-47 automatic rifle and ammunition were found in the man's vehicle in which he traveled with another person.

This was my first "action" photo from Iraq. My video camera was still operational and I had to make a quick decision on which camera to grab first - my still camera or the video camera. I had made a commitment to place still photos above video in every reasonable circumstance so I made the photos as quickly as possible. As soon as I was satisfied that the still image was secured I switched to video and made very similar frames. The video from this scene became part of my documentary about the invasion.

The next day I learned that this image appeared on the front page of 43 newspapers nationwide and a video I had made the day before was aired on World News Tonight. My video camera succumbed to the dust not long after I made these final frames.




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