The Tim Hetherington Trust is proud to announce the placement of Tim’s entire archive with the Imperial War Museums, UK (IWM).  It is an extraordinary tribute to an extraordinary career that IWM should accept not just representative samples of Tim’s work but every public and private detail of Tim’s career.  The negatives and digital files (and a scattering of transparencies) are stored alongside the equipment used to make them together with the tear-sheets and published projects, awards and other products of his work.  This is embellished with a scintillating and sometimes tantalising collection of souvenirs and other ephemera collected throughout his travels, and running as a thread throughout are the handwritten journals from 1990 before he first lifted a camera through to his red carpet reception in Hollywood and the last days in Libya.  It is especially gratifying that an institution of this stature will not only house the objects but as a centre for international research will be a hub for the ideas that Tim developed throughout his career.

The curators at IWM have already logged each object and work has begun to curate the collection for public presentation.  It is a daunting task and it is too early to anticipate completion dates but it is expected that IWM will announce an exhibition schedule sometime in the near to mid future. 

Greg Brockett, IWM Curator, Contemporary Conflict, said: “Tim Hetherington was always striving to have as much freedom from editorial influence as possible, which enabled him to reveal the many complex layers of conflict in his work. He covered themes which are often overlooked in the mainstream media, such as humanity and masculinity. With the acquisition of this fascinating archive, IWM will be taking a fresh look at how images are used to inform and influence our collective understanding of conflict, from Tim’s visionary and distinctly self-aware perspective.”

Judith Hetherington, Tim’s mother and a Trustee of the Tim Hetherington Trust, said: "It’s profoundly gratifying that with IWM’s commitment to the principles that Tim held so dear, his contribution will reach far into the future when the fight for truth will face as-yet unknown challenges. We could not have hoped for a better partner to carry Tim’s legacy forward; the museum’s expertise across so many areas of Tim’s practice and the sensitivity to his concerns is backed up by their commitment in making his process available for public study. The Tim Hetherington Trust now has a terrific friend in IWM as we work to promote the continuation of Tim’s ideas and ideals with new generations of visual storytellers”

IWM (Imperial War Museums) tells the story of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since the First World War.

The unique Collections, made up of the everyday and the exceptional, reveal stories of people, places, ideas and events. Using these, we tell vivid personal stories and create powerful physical experiences across our five museums that reflect the realities of war as both a destructive and creative force. We challenge people to look at conflict from different perspectives, enriching their understanding of the causes, course and consequences of war and its impact on people’s lives.

IWM’s five branches which attract over 2 million visitors each year are IWM London, IWM’s flagship branch that recently transformed with new, permanent and free First World War Galleries alongside new displays across the iconic Atrium to mark the Centenary of the First World War; IWM North, housed in an iconic award-winning building designed by Daniel Libeskind; IWM Duxford, a world renowned aviation museum and Britain's best preserved wartime airfield; Churchill War Rooms, housed in Churchill’s secret headquarters below Whitehall; and the Second World War cruiser HMS Belfast.

Picture shows a glimpse of the archive in preparation for delivery to IWM