To get the ball rolling again, whilst I was ill and wrapped in a blanket, I typed up a brief overview of one of my favoured subjects in photography, without going into much detail, as a reference so people can see where I get some of my inspiration from.
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War Photography
The subject of war photography is one of my more personal interests, for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is how well action can be captured, right in the thick of it. This action, such as a bomb exploding, would be difficult to recreate in a controlled environment and would lack the intensity as it would appear staged and superficial, lacking the urgency that can only be captured in the heat of the moment.
Secondly, the element of danger captured by war photographers, the same danger that they themselves are experiencing is such a unique testament to their bravery and dedication to covering the conflict in question. Rarely in photographs from war zones where there is action happening, will you find the photographer in a prime location, such as on top of a hill or another advantageous spot which would give a better view of the scenes unfolding in front of them. More often than not they are hunkered down in ditches or behind cover with other soldiers trying to take refuge from the conflict, a constant reminder that they are still human in a very real situation that could kill them.
Thirdly, they depict the dark, horrid truth of war. It is this nitty, gritty truth of young men who have sustained hideous injuries, civilians being uprooted from their homes and fleeing in fear for their lives and lines of corpses of those who have fallen during the conflict. These images are often either censored by the media during the time of the conflict, or overlooked by the general public refusing to acknowledge the true horrors of war. War photographers go and seek out these truths in order to capture it to show those who are willing to see, the reality of war; young men with horrific disfiguring wounds, civilians fleeing for their lives and the lines of corpses of those who have fallen in the conflict.
Lastly, I believe that it is during these times of attrition that true emotions can be captured, not hidden away or disguised as many people do with their emotions to retain a sense of anonymity in modern culture. War brings out the worst, and the best in people. For every image taken that really captures someone completely broken and destroyed by the conflict, there is another image of someone who still retains the sharp spark of hope in their eyes, the refusal to let go and give in and to carry on fighting for what they believe in.
I thought I would include a small section on war photography, after having looked through my copy of "Frontlines" by Sean Smith again.
There have been many war photographers over the years; here I shall merely place a few examples of war photographers and their work using photos that are easily recognizable from the journals of history.
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| "The Falling Soldier" - Robert Capa |
