PHOTOGRAPHS AND WAR MEMORY


THE PURPOSE:  This mini-project is designed at its most ambitious to provoke serious thinking about the relationship between photography as a medium and the collective memories of war.  How have visual images shaped peoples' understanding of particular wars and of war in general?  How have photographers framed their own understanding of their task?  The less abstract purpose is to introduce you to a number of combat photojournalists.


THE PROCEDURE:  The exercise involves two steps:

Step 1: Pick one "Iconic War Photo," defined as an image that has imprinted itself on the memory of a very substantial number of viewers.  It should be one of the photographs most commonly associated with a particular conflict.  I have identified a number of such images at Iconic War Photos and included some relevant web links.  But you need not choose from this list.  Find out everything you can about that picture.  Who was the photographer?  Who were the various people in the photograph?  Can you place the photo within a story-line that moves beyond the click of the camera?  What was the impact of the photograph at the time?  What is the "afterlife" of the image?  Has it, for example, been incorporated into art pieces or been referred to in popular culture?  What did the photographer and the subjects of the photo think about the picture?  What happened to them in the days and years after the photo was taken?  How, if at all, did the image itself change their lives?

Step 2: Find a minimum of five other interesting war or war remembrance photos.  Mount these on blank paper or poster board.  Print or type detailed captions that, at a minimum, clearly identify the photo but more preferably provide information or analysis linked to the theme of war and memory.  We will transform the classroom into a War Photo Museum.  You may want to focus your research on one photographer or basic theme.  The links and names below are by no means comprehensive but are offered as possible starting places.  The assignment will not be graded separately but you will be asked to hand in the poster board as a journal entry.


SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS:


WEB-SITE LINKS (General links are listed first, followed by individual wars in reverse chronological order)

 


 

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