Last Updated on 02/21/2019 by Chris Gampat
Photojournalist Gabriele Micalizzi was severely injured in Syria, and was saved by his Leica Cameras.
Typically when photojournalists survive dangerous encounters in a war zone, it’s because of some protective gear that they have–but for Gabriele Micalizzi, his Leica cameras saved him. According to a post made on Reddit, the cameras that saved him are the Leica Q and the Leica SL. Both of these cameras have been tested to be incredibly durable by photographers and there are many stories from photographers about how their Leicas survived quite tortuous conditions.
According to CPJ, Gabriele was hit by shrapnel from an RPG. He was hit in his head, his left eye, ear, and different parts of his body–which required multiple surgeries. He’s also one of the founders of the Cesura Photo collective, who reported that Gabriele is back in Italy now, and recovering.
“I first touched my left arm where there was a hole. I put my finger in it. Then the left eye, which was soft as if it were a soft-boiled egg. I was beginning to see less and less. His face was full of blood, but I did not feel pain. “
– Today.it
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Gabriele told Today.IT that the Leica that he had up to his eye saved his life.
The image of Gabriele’s cameras appeared on Reddit, and according to comments, the RPG blast mostly hit the Kurdish fighter in front of him. However, the blast hit Gabriele and the Leica protected him. Gabriele’s left eye though needed surgery.
The Leica Q is Leica’s full frame point and shoot with a fixed 28mm f1.7 lens. It isn’t said to be weather sealed at all, but the new rumored Leica Q2 is. Leica’s SL camera, on the other hand, is incredibly weather sealed.
We’re still researching more into this story, and also trying to track the source of the image.
Image via reddit.