By David Thomson, Jean-François Leroy, Vincent Jolly and Alain Mingam
444 pages, hardcover, $75
Published by Edition Lammerhuber
edition.lammerhuber.at

It takes fortitude to view the 256 photographs included in this collection of Serbian-born photojournalist Goran Tomašević’s chosen oeuvre: war photography. Which is nothing when one considers Tomašević has risked his life for three decades to capture powerful images of man’s inhumanity and tendency to use violence to solve the world’s problems. Having seen war closeup in his native country, he has traveled the world to bring a human face to endless conflict. Whether in Yugoslavia, the Middle East, Africa or South America, he shows bravery, resilience and strength as well as small moments of rest and peace in between battles. He composes his frames with the eye of an artist, showing an innate ability to create images of beauty and terror in a fraction of a second while in the chaos of battle.

Tomašević joined news agency Reuters in 1996 based on the strength of his documentation of the war in Kosovo. He has little competition; his name is mentioned in a short list that includes Robert Capra and James Nachtwey, and his work has received many photojournalism awards.

This monograph offers vivid explanatory captions, but there is little additional text to distract from the powerful images that put a human face on conflict. In an age of media distrust and “fake news,” this book shows the messy, bloody, frightening—and very human—face of conflict. Bottom line: we all bleed red. —Anne Telford