Junior Theme 2

Alright, so I am not DPark, so I don't have 3 interviews. I have, however, interviewed Robert Hariman, the chair of Communications at Northwestern. He was very insightful, and gave me some great ideas on how to reposition my paper. He suggested that I focus on the way in which photographs can help us align our moral compass. He linked to his blog, nocaptionneeded.com, which seemed exactly like what I was writing my paper on. Hariman also has a book by the same title.

Most interestingly, Hariman argued that the Iwo Jima photograph is so compelling because

 "the short answer is the composition.  Not also that it is not a “war fighting” image: they are not shooting, etc, but rather a flag raising, which also can be a civilian ceremony.  Thus, it can easily serve as a metaphor for citizen action, commitment to the war effort, and the like." 

I found this very interesting, because although I recognized that there was no actual fighting going on in the photograph, I didn't realize that it was so "civilian."

In addition to that interview, I am also speaking with Professor McNulty, who teaches at Medill, NU's school of Journalism (widely considered the one of best in the country). I expect that he will email me back sometime this weekend.

My focus will be on ethics,  (of sending photographers into a dangerous climate, and then taking photos of other peoples pain), technology (how in Vietnam, you saw the soldier's faces shot with 35 mm film, but now soldiers have more equipment and masks), and mobilization (how photos can affect people to act).
 I have a few really great sources, including a TED talk by one of the co-founders of Getty images Jonathan Klein (thanks Gooms).

Junior Theme

It's fourth quarter, which means its junior theme season in O'BoC's AiS class. After much confusion and frantic ramblings, I have decided on the topic of the ethics of war photography. My question concerns why Americans summarize a war with a single photograph. Probably the most iconic photograph in America is Flag Raising on Mt. Suribachi, by Joe Rosenthal (to the right, source). Why is this? Is it because something about this photo is so, purely, American? The flag is unfurling, surrounded by a halo-like lightness, with 6 Marines in various stages of planting it, one forever reaching to hold it (on the far left).

Not all war photographs are as beautiful as Rosenthal's. Nick Ut, a Vietnam photographer, took the disturbing photgraph of a recently napalmed girl running naked down a street in Vietnam, suffering from burns. Many have criticized photographers of standing by during a catastrophe, and some wonder if it is ethical to bear witness to pain of a caliber this high. But others say, if this photo were to raise awareness of the atrocities in Vietnam, is it not justified? And what all was there for the photographer to do?

Obviously, war is still a prevalent issue. In my paper, I am also discussing the horrifying pictures taken at Abu Ghraib, a US prison camp detaining Iraqis. There are several photographs that one associates with Abu Ghraib, as one associates more than one image to Vietnam or Gitmo. I am planning on using the widely known photo at right of a prisoner, hooded, who is connected to wires, presumably being shocked. This photo brings to mind the KKK in reverse, a black hooded figure, with arms outstretched in a Crucifixion manner.