Norbert Schiller

Norbert Schiller is a Mint Press photojournalist, creative producer and frequent contributor. Norbert has lived and worked in the Middle East and Africa as a news photographer for over 25 years with major news organizations including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, United Press International, the New York Times and Der Spiegel. He covered three Iraq wars, conflicts and famine in the Horn of Africa, Salafist insurgencies in Egypt and North Africa and the Arab-Israeli conflict, to name a few.

Syria After Dark: My First Impressions

(MINNEAPOLIS) – When I first arrived in Damascus I had strict instructions from Louis Fares, the Syrian bureau chief for the news agency that I was working for, not to cover anything other than the release of western hostages held in Lebanon “and under no circumstances to wander the streets with a camera.” Not only was […]

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller
A Moroccan dancer at a cabaret in the Syrian port city of Latakia (Ph. Norbert Schiller)

(MINNEAPOLIS) - When I first arrived in Damascus I had strict instructions from Louis Fares, the Syrian bureau chief for the news agency that I was working for, not to cover anything other than the release of western hostages held in Lebanon “and under no circumstances to wander the streets with a camera.” Not only was I not allowed to take

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Syria: From Russia with Love

(MINNEAPOLIS) – Now that the world is focused on Syria, and the atrocities being committed by the government in Damascus, Many are asking why a country like Russia continues to remain adamant in it’s decision to stand behind the regime of Bashar al Assad. Long before I had ever visited Syria, I had this romantic notion […]

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller
A statue of Hafiz Al-Assad stand guard over a public square in Homs, Syria (Photo by MintPress).

(MINNEAPOLIS) - Now that the world is focused on Syria, and the atrocities being committed by the government in Damascus, Many are asking why a country like Russia continues to remain adamant in it’s decision to stand behind the regime of Bashar al Assad. Long before I had ever visited Syria, I had this romantic notion that the capital,

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Killing the messenger, how politics target war correspondents

(MINNEAPOLIS) – There is an esprit de corps that develops among journalists who are on a story together, and this camaraderie becomes an intrinsic part of the job. The more dangerous the story, the tighter the bond becomes. War correspondents are very well aware of the risks they face and they know that at any moment […]

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller
In this 1944 photo, Cyril 'Cy' O'Brien, a former Marine combat correspondent, uses a typewriter on Guam. (Photo by Pacific War Museum)

(MINNEAPOLIS) - There is an esprit de corps that develops among journalists who are on a story together, and this camaraderie becomes an intrinsic part of the job. The more dangerous the story, the tighter the bond becomes. War correspondents are very well aware of the risks they face and they know that at any moment they could become the next

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Opinion: Mourning the Messenger – A Look into the Life of a War Correspondent

(MINNEAPOLIS) — Over the past weeks, three foreign journalists have lost their lives covering the crisis in Syria. For me personally, the death of New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid hit the hardest because we had shared a friendship for nearly 20 years. The two other fatalities were also extremely disturbing. Marie Colvin was the […]

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller
Screenshot from documentary film: Shooting Robert King, about war photographer Robert King.

(MINNEAPOLIS) — Over the past weeks, three foreign journalists have lost their lives covering the crisis in Syria. For me personally, the death of New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid hit the hardest because we had shared a friendship for nearly 20 years. The two other fatalities were also extremely disturbing. Marie Colvin was the quintessential

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Opinion: Remembering a Friend and Colleague, Anthony Shadid (1968 – 2012)

  (MINNEAPOLIS)—Last Thursday (16 February) the journalistic community suffered a devastating loss. For millions around the world, New York Times Middle East Correspondent Anthony Shadid (43) was the eyes, ears, and voice of the average person trapped in turmoil. For nearly two decades, Anthony covered the Middle East, sometimes under the most harrowing conditions, to […]

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller
FILE - In this April 12, 2010 file photo, Anthony Shadid, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting with The Washington Post, poses for a portrait at the Watson Institute for International Studies, on the campus of Brown University, in Providence, R.I. The New York Times said Shadid died Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, apparently of an asthma attack, while on assignment in Syria. He was 43. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

  (MINNEAPOLIS)—Last Thursday (16 February) the journalistic community suffered a devastating loss. For millions around the world, New York Times Middle East Correspondent Anthony Shadid (43) was the eyes, ears, and voice of the average person trapped in turmoil. For nearly two decades, Anthony covered the Middle East, sometimes

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