Most powerful war photos ever?
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Photojournalist Tracey Shelton captured these set images in September showing the instant a tank shell exploded in a Syrian rebel outpost. She was filming the group of four rebels and had just set her camera on a tripod before the explosion occurred. The blast claimed three casualties, while one of the four men, the rebel standing directly in front of Shelton, escaped with minor injuries.
The images are now being called the most powerful war photographs ever seen.
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If these are the MOST pwerful war scenes ever seen, then they have been living in a cave
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Guess it depends on how you define "powerful". This serie, which include the moment of impact in in such a high quality photo is something that leaves an impression.
But for "the most powerful" - I think that for instance the photo of the girl running away from the napalm strike made a much more impression on me.
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These pictures are actually part of a video showing how the rebels in Syria were defending their street when the blast occurs.
The video has graphic images at the end but it gives a fascinating insight to the day to day life of the rebels.
Of course there are tons of iconic war images that spring to mind. I found the debate around what constitutes a powerful image as fascinating as these images.
Just to be clear I wasn't saying these are the most powerful images I was raising the debate on whether people's reactions to this are as strong as to when the older iconic images were initially released.
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The one at the explosion moment is very striking. But in this case it's the whole series that tell the story - not just a single one where you can extract the story leading up to it.
I'd say the First, third and fifth gives the most to the story. In the first you see the face of the guy cycling past - smiling. Then the event itself. Then it ends with the survivor and his reaction.
Second and third is interesting on their own as it illustrates how quickly things happen. The men are in the exactly same position - just suddenly engulfed in the blast. Just shows how much of a gamble everything is - no matter how alert you are, you might be gone before you have a chance to realise that was your last moment.
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@thomthom said:
But for "the most powerful" - I think that for instance the photo of the girl running away from the napalm strike made a much more impression on me.
That's exactly the one that came to my mind too as I thought about an example of most powerful war image.
As for reactions to war images, I think with the kind of popular "entertainment" out there - war movies, etc. the threshold for reaction to graphic images is less powerful than it used to be.
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Third image is really quite amazing
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@andybot said:
As for reactions to war images, I think with the kind of popular "entertainment" out there - war movies, etc. the threshold for reaction to graphic images is less powerful than it used to be.
Sceptic...
I get the impression that people before was better at dealing with death than we are now. When people lived in died in the same bed - with their whole families. And more people where living outside cities - they also dealt with the death of animals which gave them their food. It's my impression we're more disconnected from dealing with death than before. -
I was always very moved by this photo,taken in Sarajevo.
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@dale said:
I was always very moved by this photo,taken in Sarajevo.
That is eerie.
It makes me think of what films usually gives us the most creeps. Think Reservoir Dogs where you never actually see the ear being cut off - but you remember that scene well. Also think the Alien films - the first one where you hardly see the alien vs the later ones where it's just gore. It's the ones that gives you enough clues to what happens - but exclude the explicit, leaving your own mind to fill in the horrible gaps that shakes us the most.
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Another photo that recently made an impression, though not from war, was one where a woman had been tied and buried half way up to her waist - crying. Fist-sized rocks laying scattered around. She's been sentenced for being gay.
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How is it when you go to stop this, you are labeled the monster?
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@thomthom said:
Sceptic...
I get the impression that people before was better at dealing with death than we are now. When people lived in died in the same bed - with their whole families. And more people where living outside cities - they also dealt with the death of animals which gave them their food. It's my impression we're more disconnected from dealing with death than before.I agree with you that as modern societies, we do seem more removed from death. I am referring specifically to imagery. I think a comparison would be photos from the battlefields of the US civil war. I would guess at that time, there wasn't much in "media" to compare.
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