It's perhaps one of the most overused clichs ever, but it's hard to deny that in some cases a picture really is worth a thousand words. Artistic photography can is a fascinating use of the medium. However, documentary photography is probably the purest and most powerful form. It has the ability to highlight injustice or suffering, but it can also give people hope.
War photographers, or those who travel to scenes of natural disasters, for example, often find that they are confronted with challenging moral dilemmas. In their journalistic role, they are there to document rather than intervene in the events they witness. This may seem like a job for soulless individuals, but photographers routinely risk death themselves in their effort to spread awareness of human tragedies.
The photo that perhaps best encapsulates the moral dilemmas faced by journalists, whilst also conveying the risks they take, was taken by Nick Ut in Vietnam in 1972. It depicts a group of Vietnamese children fleeing a US napalm attack, with a naked, screaming girl named Kim Phuc at the centre of the image. The photo made a global impact, graphically illustrating the suffering being caused at the hands of the American military, and further galvanizing the anti-war movement.
It's not just journalists that take photos that shock the world - in 1941, an SS soldier took a photo now known as The Last Jew of Vinnista. Found in his personal album after the war, this truly disturbing image shows an emaciated Jewish man perched on the edge of the open mass grave of a Nazi death camp. Behind him, one of the guards is holding a pistol against the back of his skull with his finger hovering chillingly over the trigger. When WWII began, there were at least 28,000 Jews living in the Ukranian city of Vinnista. None of them escaped.
Photos like these get their power from their uncompromising portrayal of humanity at its worst, but there also are many images celebrating human achievements that deserve an equal place in history. One example, taken whilst under enemy fire, is US Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal's unforgettable shot of four American soldiers courageously raising the American flag on Mount Surbachi, Japan, as WWII approached its conclusion. Another photo that beautifully symbolises the human spirit at its best is Buzz Aldrin's 1969 shot of the first human footprint on the Moon. The footprint, which poignantly encapsulates our instinctive fascination with the unknown, will remain there for millions of years.
War photographers, or those who travel to scenes of natural disasters, for example, often find that they are confronted with challenging moral dilemmas. In their journalistic role, they are there to document rather than intervene in the events they witness. This may seem like a job for soulless individuals, but photographers routinely risk death themselves in their effort to spread awareness of human tragedies.
The photo that perhaps best encapsulates the moral dilemmas faced by journalists, whilst also conveying the risks they take, was taken by Nick Ut in Vietnam in 1972. It depicts a group of Vietnamese children fleeing a US napalm attack, with a naked, screaming girl named Kim Phuc at the centre of the image. The photo made a global impact, graphically illustrating the suffering being caused at the hands of the American military, and further galvanizing the anti-war movement.
It's not just journalists that take photos that shock the world - in 1941, an SS soldier took a photo now known as The Last Jew of Vinnista. Found in his personal album after the war, this truly disturbing image shows an emaciated Jewish man perched on the edge of the open mass grave of a Nazi death camp. Behind him, one of the guards is holding a pistol against the back of his skull with his finger hovering chillingly over the trigger. When WWII began, there were at least 28,000 Jews living in the Ukranian city of Vinnista. None of them escaped.
Photos like these get their power from their uncompromising portrayal of humanity at its worst, but there also are many images celebrating human achievements that deserve an equal place in history. One example, taken whilst under enemy fire, is US Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal's unforgettable shot of four American soldiers courageously raising the American flag on Mount Surbachi, Japan, as WWII approached its conclusion. Another photo that beautifully symbolises the human spirit at its best is Buzz Aldrin's 1969 shot of the first human footprint on the Moon. The footprint, which poignantly encapsulates our instinctive fascination with the unknown, will remain there for millions of years.
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