Philippines Drug War: Photographers on Most Powerful Images
▻http://time.com/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-drug-war-local-photographers/?xid=fbshare
▻https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/philippines-drug-war-facebook.jpg?quality=85&w=1200&h=62
A teenage “John Doe” lies on a mortuary table, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. A woman cradles her partner under the harsh light of television cameras, beside a piece of cardboard that labels him a “pusher.” A sister, far from home, uses video-calling on her smartphone to mourn with relatives during the funeral of her brother.
These scenes and more have become commonplace across the Philippines over the last eight months of President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly crusade. More than 7,000 suspected drug users, dealers and innocents have been reported slain by unidentified vigilantes or during confrontations with police. It was only after the high-profile killing of a South Korean businessman at police headquarters—an embarrassment for Duterte—that the president said the police’s anti-drug units would be dissolved. Still, he pledged to continue the campaign.
As the body count has risen, so has the number of photographers who have seen the streets stained by blood. The killings have drawn in veteran foreign photographers like TIME’s James Nachtwey and Daniel Berehulak, whose investigation for the New York Times recently earned a George Polk Award. But it is a strong group of local photographers—comprised of freelancers and those working for the wires—who have committed to keeping the human toll in the public eye. They live in this hell, waiting for the next lead to the next crime scene.