Journalist recalls reporting from Afghanistan

Robert Nickelsberg has been inside Al Qaeda’s training camps, and he has stood feet from Taliban soldiers. He has been on the frontline, and he has documented everything he has seen.

On Monday, the IU School of Journalism Speaker Series began with Nickelsberg’s presentation on his years of work in Afghanistan war zones. Nickelsberg has worked as a photojournalist for Time magazine and the New York Times.

For the last 25 years, on and off, Nickelsberg has documented the struggles in Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the country.

He said he arrived just after the Cold War ended.

“This was all unfolding in front of you,” he said. “You had the news. As long as you could get the pictures out, you had people’s attention.”

Nickelsberg took pictures of warlords, dead infants and destroyed homes. He photographed refugees and their struggle to combat the constant violence in their homeland.

He also met some of Bin Laden’s close allies, gaining further insight into the Taliban. He said Bin Laden gave money to the farmers and others around him to protect his location.

“Bin Laden was very smart,” Nickelsberg said. “Remember, he was an engineer, and he thought like one.”

Though Nickelsberg was not in Afghanistan at the time of 9/11, he said as soon as the JFK airport reopened, he was on the first flight back.

“9/11 wasn’t a surprise to me,” Nickelsberg said. “I knew exactly where it came from.”
He has documented his years of work in his 2013 book, “Afghanistan: A Distant War,” a collection of photos and essays.

After the talk, Nickelsberg opened the floor to questions from the audience members. Many wanted to know how he dealt with absorbing all the death and destruction.

“You kind of hold your breath for a second and then go about your business,” Nickelsberg said. “You must remain strong because the story needs to get out.”

He said that after his years of work in Afghanistan, he has developed a new threshold for what he can and cannot handle.

“The camera does protect you a little bit when you go to the front of a situation like that,” he said.

Bari Goldman is a freshman majoring in journalism who attended the presentation.

She said she was inspired by Nickelsberg’s talk and has considered pursuing photojournalism as her career.

“This man clearly has a way with pictures, but he’s just as good with words,” Goldman said. “I’m definitely considering it now.”

Nickelsberg said that Afghanistan has made some progress recently.

Schools are open again, literacy rates have gone up and girls’ schools are being formed.

However, he said as Americans threaten to leave the country completely, rumors are floating around of a Taliban comeback.

“In my opinion, we need to stay engaged in Afghanistan,” Nickelsberg said.