By Rachael Cloughton
- Notebook - A selection of Independent views -
- Friday, 9 December 2011 at 10:00 am
The photograph once served as a relatively removed document of warfare, now the image has become a powerful weapon within it. The distance between the photographer and the activities of war has moved closer proportionate to the increasing accessibility of the camera. Replacing a limited number of commissioned photographers are the proliferating numbers of amateurs whose smartphones and digital cameras are well within reach and whose agendas are open corruption.
The accessibility of the camera has been abused on many occasions. In the catastrophic photographs that emerged from Abu Ghraib the act of photographing is implicit in the act of terror. It is known that in Israeli prisons photographs of abused bodies have been shown to prisoners as a method of torture. The photographs taken by government forces during the Sri Lankan civil war evidence further use of the image for corrupt ends. Full Story>>>