Others bring colorful orchids and fruits back from Thailand. For the American photojournalist James Nachtwey it will be a gunshot wound. Covering the political crisis in Thailand, he got in the heat of a gunfight in Laksi, north of Bangkok. Nachtwey was hit in the leg and the bullet passed right through. This being James Nachtwey, “He went right back out and worked again,” said Time magazine for whom he worked on contract for over thirty years in war zones around the globe.

Usually it’s us photographers shooting people. The other way round can be very different. Getting in the line of real fire is nothing to be proud of. Nachtwey told the Wall Street Journal, “I consider myself extremely lucky.”

To understand Nachtwey’s mindset a bit better this quote might explain his approach to photography:

Photographers go to the extreme edges of human experience to show people what’s going on.

The acclaimed photographer is not currently on assignment for TIME.

Speedy recovery, James Nachtwey!