In 1958 (after a failed  attempt to study engineering) I started my career as a

freelance photographer in Santiago, photographing weddings, birthdays, families,

publicity and  public relations events, theater groups, etc. My first steps as a

photojournalist, in 1960, were for "La Voz" (The Voice), a weekly owned by the

Catholic Church in Santiago, and which became known for its incisive and truthful

brand of journalism.

Shortly after I added the  "South Pacific Mail", of Santiago, where I also started

to write. Then I started to sell my work to the main  publications of the time: Ercilla,

Vea, Siete Días, El Diario Ilustrado, Zig-Zag, Paula, etc. After  that came the

international media, like The Houston Post, Time, Life, Super Mundo Deportivo,

Clarín de Buenos Aires and others.

In 1962, while covering the 8th OAS Conference of Foreign Ministers in Punta

del Este, Uruguay, I met  Mario Planet, one of the greats of Chilean journalism and

who became my friend and mentor. Also there was the ineffable Teddy Córdova,

onother of the “greats.” Both became  key parts in my journey towards international

journalism and photography.

The conference became a real university level course in how international

politics functions, or, if you want, “international machinations” work. Besides being

my first foray into the global village, it also helped me to establish myself firmly as a

photographer, since I took with me a small portable darkroom which I installed in the

bathroom of the hotel, much to the consternation of my roommate. Every night I

would develop and print most of what I had photographed during the day and next

morning I sold them to my other colleagues. Much to my surprise and happiness, I

sold everything that I printed.

In July of that same year I covered the World Soccer Cup, which was held in

Chile, both for "La Voz" and "Super Mundo Deportivo" (Super World of Sports,) from

Buenos Aires.

Then, in September, of that same incredible 1962, I covered a military uprising

in Buenos Aires. A faction of the army rose against the “constitutional” government

of José María Guido (who had succeeded Arturo Frondizi, himself toppled by Juan

Carlos Onganía, Guido’s “protector”.) That was my first experience as a “war

correspondent” and it defined for ever my attitude towards the military.

Soon after my return to Santiago, and after selling my work to the Chilean

press, I started teaching journalism and photography in English at the School of

Journalism at the University of Chile. Around that same time I started working in the

press department of Channel 9 TV, also of the University of Chile, where we used

still photos to cover some of the news.  I also was put in charge of international

news, thanks to my English.

My relationship with Mario Planet also included taking photographs for TIME, for 

which he was a stringer. And whenever someone from TIME Inc. came to Chile,

Mario took advantage of my English and named me an official guide. That led to an

invitation in 1967 by Life (through their Life in Español edition) to come to New York

to be trained as a correspondent.

The Big Apple totally seduced me and when I returned to Santiago after five

months, I did it with the conviction (almost subconscious) that I would have to return

permanently. This I did in October of 1968, when I came to cover the Nixon election

for Channel 9 and the Eventus Press Agency (which I had founded with some

friends.)

Once back in New York, I started looking for ways to establish myself as a

freelance. Life en Español was closing and my relationship with them was based on

my staying in

Santiago, something I was no longer interested in.

For a while I was represented by the Liaison  Agency (which later became

Gama-Liaison) and then by Echave & Associates. Through these agencies, my work

appeared in Newsweek, Oui, Manchete, Spiegel and other publications. I also did

more commercial work, traveling twice to Morocco, Puerto Rico and Mexico, among

other countries. I also did work for human rights organizations, which took me to

Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. And there was no lack of personal projects,

traveling to Europe, the Caribbean and, again, Central America.

In New York, the city itself, my family, friends and acquaintances were, and are,

a constant source of inspiration and a sort of permanent story. The relationships

among people and their interaction with their surroundings fascinates me. The

passage of the years has produced an immense accumulation of images, and time

itself has given them an incredible historical value. After all, I started taking

photographs in the 50’s, more than fifty years ago, a figure that simply sounds

unbelievable.

The same passing of time, plus other factors, damaged my cardiovascular

system and on July 4, 1999 I ended in Saint Luke’s Hospital with severe chest pains

and before I knew what hit me they had done a triple bypass. Nothing better than a

“close encounter of the third kind” to make us think about our mortality and to ask

When I photograph, I'm seeking answers to things. - Wynn Bullock

If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough. - Robert Capa

To me, pictures are like blintzes – ya gotta get ‘em while they’re hot.  - Weegee

I am a photographer in the way you might be a plumber. - Bruce Davidson

ourselves what are, perhaps, the most basic human questions.

These experiences, quite new, as a matter of fact, have rekindled my interest in

the almost 150,000 images which represent my lifetime work. My most fervent wish

right now is that I have enough time to explore and share them.

The rest, my friends, is another story...

I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. - James Nachtwey