![]() ![]() As a photographer you are there to document what you see and how history is developing nothing else. His subject A sailors passionate kiss with a dental assistant in the heart of Times Square. Again, for a society which in many ways now is quite individualised, this spontaneous show of public emotion is in its way, shocking.Įssentially, it is important, I believe, as a war photographer to always try and keep a neutrality no matter what you may think in your own political views. In the mid-20th century, a momentary pause in the thrum of humanity was etched into the annals of history by a German-born American photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt. RM 2F2Y6F51945, 14 august, NEW YORK, USA : The Kissing the War Goodbye in New York City Times Square V-J DAY by U.S. In a more light-hearted way, the classic Time Square image from New York on the day that Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was reflective of the jubilant mood in society at the time. With this knowledge, one can at least begin to understand the high tensions that were present at this time, if not the violent and cold-blooded way in which the General dealt with those tensions. However, Adams later talked about the fact that this followed the discovery of the prisoner near a ditch in which 34 bodies of police officers and others had been dumped, including relatives of General Loan. This kind of brutal point-blank violence portrayed by war photographer Eddie Adams had a massive impact on the American public when it was published and became an anti-war icon. For the modern viewer it is particularly difficult to understand the social context that could have made this kind of behaviour acceptable among previously upstanding members of society, but one has to understand the grip the Nazis had on post World War I Germany in the 1930s and the way that they made society believe the lies that all the country’s ills had been caused by certain ethnic or religious groups.Īnother extremely well known picture from Vietnam was General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in 1968. Despite being a doctor, he was pictured standing in the midst of hundreds of emaciated naked bodies of inmates who had been gassed. By Alfred EisenstaedtLIFE Photo Collection Margaret Bourke-White was a woman of many firsts. Similarly, the well known shot of Dr Fritz Klein, the physician at Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp, reflects echoes of a genocide like none the world had seen before or since. ![]() For instance, today chemical warfare is rarely seen anywhere in the world (aside from the recent claims of its use in Syria), but in the 1970s napalm was used on a regular basis in Vietnam, resulting in the iconic image of the running child whose clothes had been burnt off, taken by Nick Ut in 1972. The uniform consists of a bodice and kilts and petticoat of white, with a braided tunic. Understanding the social and historical context of photographs from the past is important to get an understanding of what one is seeing. ![]()
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