Included in the scope of this thesis is the nature of the embedded image versus its surrounding text and advertisements. By engaging with dominant world publications like Newsweek and Time Magazine as well as the iconic image in conflict this paper underscores the contested veracity of the image, showing it to be a rather than the truth. The analysis of this thesis highlights the contested site and evolving position of the image in two major latter 20th century conflicts: Vietnam and the First Gulf War. Building on the works of influential writers engaged with photography in both a wider context and that of conflict photography, this thesis explores the nature of the printed image through a semiotic reading, the historical context and practical usage of the photograph. Primarily, it examines the rapport between conflict photography and its ability to represent the truth behind the image.
The objective of this thesis is to explore and critically examine conflict photography in terms of the contested site of production and its reception.
It is, perhaps, possible to resolve the ethical and political dilemmas associated with viewing such photographs by reflecting via artwork inspired by the same events. In the current digital age where the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and globalized, the spread of information and photographs is happening faster than ever before, and Sontag's argument above is both relevant to and important for the understanding of how photographs of atrocity are interpreted, If acts of political violence are, indeed, committed for the purpose of being photographed, this widespread dissemination and viewing of atrocity photos may have serious implications for the ways in which such violence is executed and how members of the public choose to respond. Unfortunately, the ante keeps getting raised- partly through the very proliferation of such images of horror." -Susan Sontag Are acts of political violence perpetrated for the purpose of being photographed? If so, what are the ethical implications of viewing such photographs? Through the examination of existing literature on photography and atrocity photographs, this essay seeks to explore the context in which such photographs are taken, and whether acts of violence are perpetrated for the purpose of being captured in the form of the image. "Photographs shock insofar as they show something novel.
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