Being a journalist in a war-torn country is a dangerous job because while it is generally frowned upon to engage in combat with journalists who are simply trying to do their job, sometimes it cannot be helped as they can get caught in the crossfire. Italian photojournalist Gabriele Micalizzi recently found himself in such a predicament, although thankfully he walked away relatively unscathed.According to Micalizzi who spoke to Corriere (via Leica Rumors), he has credited his Leica camera for potentially saving his life. This was because while in Syria, shrapnel from an RPG hit the lens of his camera which he had held up against his eye while taking photos. It is possible that had his camera not been in the way, he could have potentially lost his eye or worse.
“I can tell you the story now, in a corridor of San Raffaele hospital, thanking those who did everything for me. The Kurdish military, the American doctors, the Italian embassy. My Leica camera, too. If I hadn’t been holding it in front of my face, I wouldn’t be here to talk about it: in the impact it damaged my eyes, but it served as a shield. I was wearing a helmet, a bullet-proof vest, the right gear.”
In a post on Instagram, it seems that for the most part, Micalizzi is fine. He suffered lesions on his eyes and arms and still has blurry vision, which hopefully will not be permanent.
Filed in . Read more about Leica.