The photographer and the Marine

The headline on the Nov. 12 story said it all: "Despite concerns of overstepping, Times photographer Luis Sinco feels compelled to help the Iraq vet he made famous."

The "overstepping" led to the the story that ran over two days in mid-November when Sinco traveled to Kentucky to see James Blake Miller, two years after the Times photographer took what turned out to be an iconic image of the Marine. It was published in more than 150 newspapers; to many, it seemed to embody the travails of war.

"We strive to be objective journalists. But sometimes we have to be a human being before being a journalist," says assistant managing editor Colin Crawford, who oversees the photography department.

Hundreds of readers praised the series. Some also wrote to say that the photojournalist should not have gotten so involved.

As Sinco wrote in his Nov. 12 piece, editors sought a story on the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.  Sinco's trip to Kentucky turned personal when the former Marine told the photographer that he'd come close to purposely driving his motorcycle off a mountainside the night before.

Crawford says that he first had concerns when Sinco accompanied Miller to a veterans treatment program in Connecticut.

At all times, including less dramatic coverage, a journalist is cautious about getting too close to a subject. A writer covering an event takes pains to separate himself, to stay the observer. Yet this was a possible life-or-death situation. And even as photo editors and Sinco talked about the need for him to stay as detached as possible from his subject, they realized that the story was unfolding in ways they could not have predicted when it was assigned months earlier.

The key was to be clear with the readers as to how much Sinco had become a part of the story, said Crawford. Though it had not started out as a first-person piece, it became one. In the story, Sinco wrote of how he uses his camera as a shield to keep his feelings in check. Passages such as this from the Nov. 12 story reflect how Sinco grappled with his conflicting roles: "Over the next month, I stayed by Miller's side as he began to reveal the things that weighed so heavily on his mind. At his request, I sat in on most of his therapy sessions. He said my presence put him at ease, but I never put down my camera, never stopped documenting the story.

For the most part, those readers who expressed criticisms thought that the photographer had crossed a line in getting as involved as he did.

Far more readers wrote to say that they were moved by the story. Others said they now have a better understanding of combat's psychological wounds.

Regardless of their position on the war, Sinco says, many of the readers he's heard from now seem to understand that there will be many more James Blake Millers coming home. 

For hundreds of reader comments about the series, go to

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-marlboro11nov11-gb,1,5444418.graffitiboard