Iraq/Afghanistan War Photography Analysis

”..social responsibility of the media coverage…”

We can’t speak of that as long as they/you call it “War in Iraq” not “US-led invasion of Iraq”. War is semantically something between nations/states. And calling it “invasion of Iraq” would sort out other countries taking part.

If you appreciate my opinion, I believe you should first start with searching code of ethics of media organisations, their relations and position of interests.

You might want to have a look at Enrico Morresi’s book “Etica della notizia”. It was translated into many languages. It can be a good starting point if you have some theoretical knowledge on post-modern theory as well as world affairs and their historical formation.

Thanks for the tips Aytac, I’ll have to start looking for that book in English, or Spanish. Also, I just wanted to specify that I am looking specifically at the photography aspect from the nature of photos published to the issues of working in the countries (i.e. independently/embedded).

Sorry I forgot to underline that there is a fine line between the code of ethics in text and photography.

They are connected to each other especially when it comes to captions, the text inside the photo and the text that forms the mind of the image-creator. And of course, the editor chooses the photo according to what criteria? Or even, are they aware?

For example, even though Robert Fisk approves it in his “mice journalism” concept, shooting the dead bodies in a morgue and publishing is ethical or anyhow related to social responsibility?

I remember a highly-circulated Turkish newspaper published a photo, showing dead bodies of children in a morgue in Baghdad, covering the whole front page(this is not their usual frontpage concept), just one day before the protestations held on the 3rd anniversary of the invasion. Headline was succesful and couraged more and more people to go to the protestations.

About being embedded, Murad Sezer’s photo, showing American soldiers mourning, won Pulitzer in 2005. So I think he showed us that embedded or independent, it is all about the text in your mind.

http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/278272

Nice subject to work on by the way! As it’s highly detailed, I hope you can finish it before a new technology or a new way of journalism arrives.

One very important topic you might want to pay special attention to, is why in the past seven years there has been very few photos published of wounded or killed American soldiers in the U.S. print and TV media?. Until last year the military had very reasonable rules about publishing those type of photos, yet the papers on there own choose not too. In addition to the issue being discussed on Lightstalkers in the past, there was a in-depth report on this topic I saw somewhere not to long ago addressing the exact question. You should definitely search it out.

Good luck with your project..

Great stuff Aytac. Fisk is quite an interesting guy to look at, so I’ll keep him in mind. Do you have any more info on that photo in the Turkish newspaper. I searched around for it, but no luck. Which paper was it?

And Bill, that is exactly one of my top concerns. Most countries seem to display quite liberally the bodies in the aftermath of violent scenes, while American media is still afraid to go that far (when showing Americans). Any tips on where to start looking for the report you mentioned? Publication, author, or anything like that?

Thanks again guys.

I really dont know where, I’d say just start googling and you’ll prob find it eventually. One thing I want to make clear is when i speak of them publishing WIA/KIA photos, I mean obviously in a non-gratuitous, respectful manor. Perhaps look into comparisons to the Vietnam war.

I believe that analysis was in the LA Times. I think I have a copy saved somewhere. I will try and track it down and send it to you. If you are interested in my own experience with publishing images (I have covered Iraq and Afghanistan for the past two years) take a look at this interview I did with Joerg Colberg…

http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/2007/12/a_conversation_with_peter_van.html

There’s some fascinating stuff in that interview Peter, thanks for sharing. And yeah, if you come across that analysis, send it over. Thanks a lot.

Here ya go:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-iraqphoto21may21,1,5119073.story

http://www.democracynow.org/2005/5/24/unseen_pictures_untold_stories_how_the

Thanks so much guys! Really helping me get this off to a good start.