Oban student contacts legendary war photographer

An Oban-based HNC social sciences student has scored something of a coup by making contact with a legendary war photographer.

Lewis Owen was working on a self-chosen history assignment on the impact of war photography on public opinion during the Vietnam War when he received a reply from Tim Page, who was wounded in action four times during the conflict, including multiple shrapnel wounds to his legs and head.

Lewis says, "My tutor, Brian Morton, recommended getting into contact with Mr Page. The response I got  was quite illuminating and interesting because he highlighted details that I hadn't considered when starting my assessment work, things like the camaraderie between competing photographers, the perspective of an individual in Vietnam about the conflict as a whole and also the combination of planning and randomness that went into taking iconic photographs."

Brian Morton says "It's now so easy to get information off the internet that sometimes students forget that primary witness to real-life events are still out there, and usually very happy to be approached. So my suggestion this time was to get off the web page and make contact with Tim Page, an example of the terrible humour that makes HNC social sciences such a riot. But it's an important point. Everyone can quote the relevant Wikipedia pages, but Lewis has his own quotes, direct from the horse's mouth. It's something I'd like to see more students doing. The worst that can happen is that they are told to get lost. I actually thought this might happen with Tim, who is the original of the Dennis Hopper character in Apocalypse Now and has a certain, let's say, reputation."