On the way to an ambush, 1989

The late Peter Turner, past-editor of the UK Creative Camera magazine, wrote the following piece for the jacket flap of ‘On the way to an ambush’. ‘On the way to an ambush’ was published by Victoria University Press, Wellington, New Zealand, 22 April 1999. Bruce Connew’s book is at once about being a witness to human beastliness, being a photographer and being Bruce Connew. Connew is a photojournalist and teller of tales. This is his record of time spent looking and thinking about what has been seen and what it might mean. Through a process I can only describe as an unfurling or unravelling, this war in Burma becomes a metaphor for Connew’s own life. This book reminded me of how attentive photographers need be, of how tenacious—finally, of the intelligence required to provide something of worth. Connew has these qualities. In a world filled with inconsequential sound and vision bites, informed by misinformation and gossip, it seems to me important to be offered authentic words like this. PETER TURNER / 04.1999