--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While I was doing this reportage, I…" description: "\"While I was doing this reportage, I discovered a man who had one arm and one leg. He'd been run over by a train seven years ago on a drunken night and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/james-nachtwey-12788_children_while-i-was-doing-this-reportage-i-disco_749077.jpg" --- # While I was doing this reportage, I discovered a man who… ![“While I was doing this reportage, I discovered a man who had one arm and one leg. He'd been run over by a train seven years ago on a drunken night and somehow managed to survive. He was living with his wife and four children in the gravel between railway tracks. I could see that he was very loving…” quote by James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/james-nachtwey-12788_children_while-i-was-doing-this-reportage-i-disco_749077.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/james-nachtwey-12788_children_while-i-was-doing-this-reportage-i-disco_749077.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/james-nachtwey-12788_children_while-i-was-doing-this-reportage-i-disco_749077.jpg) > “While I was doing this reportage, I discovered a man who had one arm and one leg. He'd been run over by a train seven years ago on a drunken night and somehow managed to survive. He was living with his wife and four children in the gravel between railway tracks. I could see that he was very loving towards his children; that they also loved him in return. That he was trying his best to keep his family together. And spent quite a bit of time documenting the life of this family.” [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A resilient family endures hardship through love and determination despite severe physical loss. **In simple terms:** Family survives hardship with love. Key Takeaway Cherish loved ones despite adversity. Themes resilience family survival love Mood empathetic reflective Type narrative documentary When to use this quote - documentary work - social services - community support Key Concepts human spirit adversity parenting Questions to Reflect On - How does love sustain families in crisis? - What support can aid such families? A Different Perspective Survival may still involve ongoing trauma and economic strain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Railway Track](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway-track/) ## Related quotes > [I began to do documentary photographs of poverty which is very widespread in Indonesia. There's terrible poverty. 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And then you just kind of forget that they're there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-mcdermott/it-s-always-kind-of-a-bit-rough-having-a-camera-crew-documenting-your/) [Dean McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-mcdermott/) > [Documenting one's life in the midst of living it is a strange pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosanne-cash/documenting-one-s-life-in-the-midst-of-living-it-is-a-strange-pursuit/) [Rosanne Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosanne-cash/) > [This is emphatically an age of discoveries; but I will venture the assertion, that none but an American slaveholder could have discovered that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-emphatically-an-age-of-discoveries-but-i-will-venture-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“GEOLOGY, n. The science of the earth's crust --to which, doubtless, will be added that of its interior whenever a man shall come up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/geology-n-the-science-of-the-earth-s-crust-to-which-doubtless-will-be/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“This land does not belong to you. It belongs to that ancient shepherd whose ghost is standing next to you, though you refuse to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/this-land-does-not-belong-to-you-it-belongs-to-that-ancient-shepherd/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [I always scout locations first. The apartments, the railway tracks, the café, the canal - I figure out the geography of the film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-denis/i-always-scout-locations-first-the-apartments-the-railway-tracks-the/) [Claire Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-denis/) > [“He woke early the next morning. 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Kodak Film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/photojournalists-know-the-horrors-of-war-can-only-be-exposed-at-close/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [Why photograph war? Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior, which has existed throughout history, by the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/why-photograph-war-is-it-possible-to-put-an-end-to-a-form-of-human/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [There has always been war. War is raging throughout the world at the present moment. And there is little reason to believe that war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/there-has-always-been-war-war-is-raging-throughout-the-world-at-the/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [If you make an honest picture of war, it will be an antiwar photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/if-you-make-an-honest-picture-of-war-it-will-be-an-antiwar-photograph/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [The worst thing is to feel that as a photographer I am benefiting from someone else's tragedy. This idea haunts me. It's something I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-worst-thing-is-to-feel-that-as-a-photographer-i-am-benefiting/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke humanity. 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It's only reality as we experience it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/i-don-t-believe-there-s-any-such-thing-as-objective-reality-it-s-only/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I want my pictures to cut through political abstractions... and make a connection on a human level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/i-want-my-pictures-to-cut-through-political-abstractions-and-make-a/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I used to call myself a war photographer. 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