Picturing Atrocity

EversincethelandmarkpublicationofSusanSontag'sOnPhotography,ithasbeenimpossibletolookatphotographs,particularlythoseofviolenceandsuffering,withoutquestioningourroleasphotographicvoyeur.Arewedesensitizedbytheproliferationoftheseimages?Ordotheimagesstirourownsenseofjusticeandactasacalltoarms?Areweconsumingthesufferingofothers?Whatshouldourresponsestotheseimagesbe?Toanswerthesequestions,PicturingAtrocitybringstogetheressaysfromsomeoftheforemostwritersonphotographytoday,includingRebeccaSolnit,AlfredoJaar,AriellaAzoulay,JohnLucaites,RobertHarimanandSusanMeiselas,toofferclosereadingsofimagesthatrevealtherealitiesbehindthephotographs,thesubjectsandthephotographers.FromthemassacreoftheSiouxIndiansatWoundedKneetothetortureofprisonersatAbuGhraib,fromfamineinChinatoapartheidinSouthAfrica,PicturingAtrocityexaminesabroadspectrumofphotographs.Eachessayfocusesspecificallyonaniconicimage,offeringadistinctapproachandcontext,inordertoenableustolookagain-thistimemoreclosely-atthepicture.Inaddition,fourphoto-essaysshowcasetheworkofphotographersinvolvedinthemakingofphotographsofbrutalityaswellastheartists'ownreflectionsontheseimages.Togethertheseessayscoverthehistoricalandgeographicalrangeofatrocityphotographsandrespondtocurrentconcernsaboutsuchdisturbingimages.PicturingAtrocityisanimportantread,notjustforinsightsintophotography,butforitsreflectionsonhumaninjusticeandsuffering.Inkeepingwiththataim,allroyaltiesfromthebookwillbedonatedtoAmnestyInternational.