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.