{ 張亨來 }

Ami Vitale, Gaza, October 2000:

I was photographing a funeral, and having spent most of the day with the women, I went to see the body being taken in. A man in the procession started screaming, “CIA agent” and pointing at me. I was surrounded by hundreds of angry men, screaming in my face, grabbing me. I was terrified, and thought, “This is it. I am going to die.” Suddenly I understood a mob. There’s no thinking, just passion.

A woman I’d spent the day with managed to pull me away. When I got home, I sat and cried and cried - she had saved my life. I stayed on in Palestine, but was much more cautious after that; have been ever since. That moment changed my perspective. No picture is worth it.

From “The Shot That Nearly Killed Me: War Photographers - A Special Report” in The Guardian (June 17, 2011).