I met Chris via email right as I was headed home from Baghdad in 2005. He had finished up an embed with Division and someone had given him a ride to the gate. His helmet was still in the Humvee. Brent, another Getty shooter in country, was there and gave me Chris' email and I let him know.
Chris got back to me a couple of hours later. We stayed in touch. Crossed paths during my freelance days over there. I finally met him in person at Eddie Adams in 2006. He asked if I was headed back over. We kept in touch.
The last time I can remember seeing him was at a book launch party in New York. The photo below is him at that party. It shows Chris for who he was, fun. At least I hope it does.
I met his fiance, Christina a few weeks after he was buried at the Conflict Zone opening here in DC. The little contact I had with Chris meant a lot. He encouraged me. Liked me work. Christina has this photo now.
But I'm writing because of the video below, not to remember short meetings or partying with him. Single moments can define our lives. Single moments are what photojournalists work for. Did you get it or not? Is it in focus? Exposed properly? For all of his beautiful work, Chris will, right or wrong, be remembered for this photo from Tal Afar, Iraq. Here's a video from Time.com about that image.
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