Ever since the landmark publication of Susan Sontag's "On
Photography, "it has been impossible to look at photographs,
particularly those of violence and suffering, without questioning
our role as photographic voyeur. Are we desensitized by the
proliferation of these images, and does this make it easier to be
passive and uninvolved? Or do the images immediately stir our own
sense of justice and act as a call to arms? Are we consuming the
suffering of others as a form of intrigue? Or is it an act of
empathy? To answer these questions, "Picturing Atrocity" brings
together essays from some of the foremost writers and critics on
photography today, including Rebecca Solnit, Alfredo Jaar, Ariella
Azoulay, Shahidul Alam, John Lucaites, Robert Hariman, and Susan
Meiselas, to offer close readings of images that reveal the
realities behind the photographs, the subjects, and the
photographers. From the massacre of the Sioux Indians at Wounded
Knee to the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, from famine in
China to apartheid in South Africa, "Picturing Atrocity" examines a
broad spectrum of photographs. Each of the essays focuses
specifically on an iconic image, offering a distinct approach and
context, in order to enable us to look again--and this time more
closely--at the picture. In addition, four photo-essays showcase
the work of photographers involved in the making of photographs of
brutality as well as the artists' own reflections on these images.
Together these essays cover the historical and geographical range
of atrocity photographs and respond to current concerns about such
disturbing images; they probe why we as viewers feel compelled to
look even when our instinct might be to look away. "Picturing
Atrocity" is an important read, not just for insights into
photography, but for its reflections on human injustice and
suffering. In keeping with that aim, all royalties from the book
will be donated to Amnesty International.
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