The Importance of War Photography

“A hundred agonies in black-and-white

from which his editor will pick out five or six

for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick

with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.”  Carol Anne Duffy

Inevitably, with the announcement of the winners of the World Press Photo’s of the year, the debate over whether the British media should show graphic images of the violence and death during conflicts all over the world has resurfaced. To argue that the publication of such images should be censored in this country because they are in bad taste and can offend audiences and readers is ridiculous. Britain may be detached by thousands of miles of land and sea from war zones in the middle-east and outbreaks of famine in Africa, but that makes it even more necessary that the images of the suffering of others reaches this island. It would be awful if this nation lived in ignorance of the rest of the world.

Of course there are considerations that need to be made during the editorial process, the media should not in any way be allowed to encourage, instigate or glamorize violence. It should however be unrestricted in its ability to tell the truth and report on current affairs in detail. Massoud Hossaini was awarded second prize in the World Press Photo awards, for his photo of a women surrounded by the dead and wounded in Kabul, Afghanistan. A bomb has just exploded near to a shrine, where a crowd was gathered in worship. This is the kind of evil that Britain should not be oblivious to, no matter how shocking the image.

by The U.S. Army’s photostream

War photography is not a form of art, as some would like to believe. Images of pain and conflict are not entertaining and certainly not pleasant to look at, but they are a portrayal of reality. Don McCullin, a war photographer, who spent time capturing images of the British-American invasion of Iraq, told the Guardian in 2003 that, “If you are a decent human being, war is going to offend you because it has no purpose other than to satisfy someone’s desire for power and profit.” If British society cannot cope with the realities of war in foreign lands, then surely that shows they condemn it to a certain extent. People might be encouraged to become more active in society, and take more interest in current affairs, if they can see with their own eyes how others are suffering.

McCullin also spoke about the horror of war, “It is the photographer’s job to show some of that horror, to say: this is the real war, this is what it’s like on the ground, this is what war does to you.” Perhaps it is one of the hardest jobs in the world, to go to a war zone and capture scenes of anguish, but in western culture, it is also one of the most important. These photographers help to ensure that society is not blinded by commercial dominance of the media that makes you think the most important things in life are nice cars, sweet-smelling perfumes and overpriced handbags.

by DVIDSHUB