Death Photography

Death Photography

Photos dramatically changed the way we experience the present and how to think about the recent past. Since the Second World War was the first event is described in such detail photojournalism, its images are important not only for understanding what happened, but for the phenomenological study of how we see what happened.

In the past few days has been some discussion about the VP Running picture marine corporal. Joshua "Bernie" Bernard, the wounded and dying. According to the story, it was a lot of introspection and debate about whether to start now, as part of a photographic journal of the war in Afghanistan. Cpl. Family Bernard requested that the photo will not be released, but senior editors - those who own photos (slate.msn.com) a decision to publish as part of a broader story. U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates expressed his disappointment at this picture start time, and the responses of the basis of comments from readers and readers of the blog run gamut from "I find a solution that would be a disgusting," a commentator on Twitter, that the "picture worth a thousand words. I applaud your courage to distribute the photo and story about the death of Cpl. Bernard, on behalf of Mr. Ruiz, who identifies himself as a fellow Marine.

I can only imagine the suffering that the family is strong, and fully understand why they do not want to see the photo to run. On the other hand, the photos, as it exists on both world wars, from Vietnam, from Korea, as well as another in a civil war, so why should not be running pictures of this war, eh? War is not very. Deaths occur in war, and death was so Sanitized from today's movies, games and television, sometimes we need to see the real, to remind us that this is not a game.

On the other hand OTHERS ... we are approaching September 11. Where are the pictures of this horror? What happened immediately after the twin towers went down? The media, as a group decided that the photos were "very anxious" to show that our children were too sensitive, that our senses would be offended if they showed those pictures.

In general, the arguments in favour of publishing raw and horrific images of war and, as I say, I once endorsed it myself is that they are necessary to convey to people what is at stake, the real and fierce struggle with the damage which makes the cultures and the human body. But what really made these pictures? What the people of Fallujah do not want Americans occupying their city? We knew that. What Iraqis are capable of appalling cruelty? We knew that, too. And, besides, so are the members of any nation, under certain conditions (www.haverford.edu). In fact, the Fallujah photos looked at me very similar to old photos of white lynching black Americans: in the background, the bodies mutilated and hanged himself in the foreground, the enthusiastic crowd.

But what happened last week in Iraq ...