Argumentative Essay On War Photography

When people come across photographs featuring young children holding weapons with a fierce look in their eyes, or a fallen soldier who just had his or her legs blown out by a landmine, are the viewers disturbed with the human race suffering as a whole or are the photos having viewers question his or her political support that makes wars possible? Surely such vulgar and emotive images must move the public in some way. When war hits or disaster strikes, people are motivated to assist for a variety of reasons, mostly because people feel bad for the victims. However, we do not help everyone in need and some even look the other way. I believe that us humans would not be willing to help if there was not an image for our human response system to cling …show more content…
These photographs are simply a “crude statement of fact” (Woolf 111) addressed to the eye. What we see directly makes a specific connection with our brain based on previous memories and present feelings. Those past and present experiences that come to mind when we encounter a photo eventually lead to a certain decision of whether to help or keep on walking by. If we look at photos as a symbol of suffering, then our personal moral comes into play and exemplifies if we are morally inadequate or morally stable. The common misconception of war photography is that people believe the purpose is to notify the viewers of the physical damage and trauma with the end goal of people making a change to help. However, the real end goal of war photography is not to change the global situation. When we confront these vulgar photos, we are required to see it and we begin to contemplate of what we can do. War photography reaches out to us personally as viewers. People are drawn to the photo and most people choose to forget and refuse to know. If we don’t do anything, who