- An exhibition on how images of which portray 'war' are depicted in a desensitised way

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Bosnia Bleed - Simon Norfolk

Bratunac Stadium - Simon Norfolk

Auschwitz ash pond - Simon Norfolk

Biafra, 1969

For this exhibition, my choice of photographer is Don McCullin for his outstanding war photography work.  Don, who once endured service in the Royal Air Force is renowned as one of the worlds’ leading photojournalists but recognised hugely for his war documentation.

I will be looking at the ways in which Don depicts ‘war’ in what would be a desensitized context.

The way that I feel he does this is by the way that his work is not glamorised, it is not fake and it does not cover up the truth. This is all done by the way that Don does not sensitize the situation by thinking a photograph would be socially unacceptable.

Due to the way that the others in my group are basing their research on the more brutal and gory side of desensitized war documentation, I will be looking into a more selective factor of it - That being the way in which Don portrays the affect war has on the innocent civilians.

Biafra 1969
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm03.html

The above photograph was taken by Don Mccullin in 1969, at a war camp in Biafra, Nigeria.

This was taken a couple of years after Igbos, Nigeria declared themselves independent and were at war. Over one million people died in three years. This is a prime example of desensitized documentation on the affects war has on civilians. It is showing one of what, at the time, ever so surprisingly, was Nigeria’s biggest killers – starvation or disease due to the way that families were put into these camps because of this African civil war.

Don said, “I was devastated at the sight of 900 children living in one camp in utter squalor at the point of death – I lost all interest in photographing soldiers in action”.

Grieving woman Cyprus, 1964

Grieving woman Cyprus 1964

Cypriot Civil war between Turkey and Greece

Don took this photograph during the civil war between Turkey and Greece in 1964.

Again, the desensitized facts on war.

Don gets amongst a woman grieving over the horror of the death surrounding the scene.

I couldn’t find a lot of information about this image, but I feel it’s quite clear as to what is happening.

If I do say so myself, it’s quite a typically cliché example of war documentation photography – although, not to say that it doesn’t work or that it doesn’t portray the factor I’m looking into. It’s obviously desensitised and does show the affect war has on the feelings and emotions of those around the war zone.

African Civil War, Biafra 1969.

African civil war, Biafra 1969.
Going back to the concept behind the first image I looked into, the one currently displayed is also from the African civil war in Biafra, Nigeria.  In comparison to that of the first photograph, this one looks into the other side of the war and how they were not the ones struggling like the war camp civilians.
This shows a Nigerian carrying Rocket-Launcher ammo on his head, as a result of the violence that was taking place. Whilst obviously not really looking at the brutality itself, this photograph again speaks on its own in showing the shocking ways in which the innocent community of war live and how they are affected and even pushed into living the way they wouldn’t normally want to. Through looking into this specific concept, I feel I’ve learnt and even covered, to a degree, the affects war has on the civilians of that particular place, through researching into Don McCullin’s desensitised war documentation.

An exhibition on how images of which portray ‘war’ are depicted in a desensitized way

I chose 3 different photographers because it’s more about the context of the images rather than the photographers. I think this is important when it comes to documenting a situation so that the reason for the photos existence is realised by the viewer, especially in documentary and photojournalism. I we took inspiration from reading the visual lecture witch among many things looked at cultural diversity. the photograph below was taken by Malcolm Wilde Browne in Saigon, Vietnam 1963

 Thich quang duc was a Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in protest, after Buddhist temples where raided by armed police killing and injuring monks and preventing them from peace full religious ceremonies. President Ngo Dinh Diem justified the repression of Buddhist by claiming they where contributing to political unrest. This from of suicide is called self-immolation. This photograph made the head lines even though self –immoliation had happened before the affects of capturing this particular moment for all to see shocked the world, making this image immortal and although shocking at the time it now seems, almost lost amongst the ever growing library of images created by our selves and adding to desensitisation of the world around us.

The second image I chose, was taken by Gilles Peress in Derry, Northern Ireland, January 30, 1972. The black and white photograph is a scene of death the man on the floor lays in a pool of his won blood. A priest steps forward with one hand on his head while people look in another direction implying that what ever they were looking at was a lot worse than what was on the floor in front of them.

 I’m trying to remember my emotions–I know that at one point I was shooting and crying at the same time. I think it must’ve been when I saw Barney McGuigan dead. 

By the time I had reached him, people were still huddling by the telephone box, protecting themselves from the shooting. He was alone. Then a priest [Father Tom O'Hara] arrived and started to give him the Last Rites. I remember taking a few pictures then. I remember I was crying as I was doing it. I remember that I didn’t want to intrude too much, but that at the same time I felt this obligation to shoot, to document. It is always the same f***ed-up situation: you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t….

This was the first time I saw what a real war weapon can do. I mean the destruction, the impact of it. Up until then, I thought that bullets killed you but they would kill you kind of neatly. You understand what I’m saying? This was the first time I realized the terrible destruction that those things create.

Gilles Peress interview with Trisha Ziff in Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972 (Santa Monica, CA: Smart Art Press, 1998), pp. 72-74.

Gilles Peress was worked for magnum photo agency at the time this photo was taken.

Gilles Peress also took the third photo in Nyarubye, Rwanda, 1994. It is thought that up to 26,000 refugees where killed in this building and its surrounding grounds.  A dishevelled upper torso of a dead man lays at the foot of the steps, it is plain to see that he has been dead for some time.  A cloth overs his face and his arms are spread like the statue of Christ that stands on the front of the church above him. This photo becomes more and more terrible the closer you look, the more detail you see.

Rwanda: How the genocide happened BBC NEWS

Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans 

were killed in the space of 100 days.

Ethnic tension in Rwanda is nothing new. There have been always been disagreements between the Hutus and Tutsis, the two ethnic groups are actually very similar - they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions.

Ref  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/1288230.stm

Shocking imagery is thrust into the public’s eye on a daily basis by the media. The Internet a opened a huge path of communication between people around the world, anyone can upload videos or images to the net. Technology of today can be used to create and manipulate the truth of what was, how do we know what really happened unless we where actually there in person!? Depending on who has the image and how they use it will decree how it is perceived. Photographs can be used to mislead the viewer but they can also inform the viewer. I believe that this is a huge undertaking that Documentary and photojournalism take on and are both important instrument used to provoke thought and vitally depict the truth of a situation no matter how harsh the reality of its reason for being are. The truth is sacred and people need to know the plight of others and feel empathy, A photograph has the power to make people feel.