In Honor to the Legendary Photographer Dith Pran

Dith Pran speaks with President Ronald Reagan May 24, 1985 in Washington, D.C.

by John Koblin
March 30, 2008

Dith Pran, the New York Times photographer whose disappearance and escape from the clutches of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia was famously chronicled in the movie The Killing Fields, died in New Jersey. He was 65.

The Times has an obituary up on its web site, along with a slide show and a recent video interview. Pran, who was battling cancer, also gave an interview to the Star-Ledger on March 19.

Bill Keller sent this out to his newsroom today:

"To all of us who have worked as foreign reporters in frightening places, Pran reminds us of a special category of journalistic heroism—the local partner, the stringer, the interpreter, the driver, the fixer, who knows the ropes, who makes your work possible, who often becomes your friend, who may save your life, who shares little of the glory, and who risks so much more than you do."