Photojournalism became a thing during the American Civil War, enabling the public to see the carnage of war. In later conflicts controlling the images seen by the public was important to the government. Having graphic TV reports from Vietnam in the 1960s may have contributed that war falling out of favor to the American public. Sadly, it would seem that we’ve become less attuned to suffering shown in images and videos. Can you remember seeing any images that inspired you to want something to change?
I feel like our culture, due, in part, to our exposure to graphic images of violence, both real and especially fictional, has largely become desensitized to the images we see on our devices. The U.S. military learned from its experiences in Vietnam and more carefully controlled the images and videos published during the Iraqi wars. I can’t remember the last time I saw a photojournalist image that made me react, either good or bad. Only image that comes to mind is the young woman in a flowing dress standing her ground in front of a group police officers in riot gear during the 2016 BLM protests in Baton Rouge. That’s an amazing image.
But given the flow of videos and images and all of the causes in need of support… I’m overwhelmed. I vote and try to be a good example of citizenship and “working together” but there are just not enough hours in the day for everything that seems to need attention. Maybe photojournalism is doing its job in that I feel the need to do something.
Source: Untold History, The Birth of Photojournalism, https://youtu.be/p41zSlcylFw
Image source: A Single Photo From Baton Rouge That’s Hard to Forget, by Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, July 10, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/a-single-photo-that-captures-race-and-policing-in-america/623598/
I feel like our culture, due, in part, to our exposure to graphic images of violence, both real and especially fictional, has largely become desensitized to the images we see on our devices. The U.S. military learned from its experiences in Vietnam and more carefully controlled the images and videos published during the Iraqi wars. I can’t remember the last time I saw a photojournalist image that made me react, either good or bad. Only image that comes to mind is the young woman in a flowing dress standing her ground in front of a group police officers in riot gear during the 2016 BLM protests in Baton Rouge. That’s an amazing image.
But given the flow of videos and images and all of the causes in need of support… I’m overwhelmed. I vote and try to be a good example of citizenship and “working together” but there are just not enough hours in the day for everything that seems to need attention. Maybe photojournalism is doing its job in that I feel the need to do something.
Image source: A Single Photo From Baton Rouge That’s Hard to Forget
By Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, July 10, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/a-single-photo-that-captures-race-and-policing-in-america/623598/