‘ETCHED IN OUR MEMORIES’
Robert Leiter
Jewish Exponent, PA
Aug. 10, 2006
A barracks at the Buchenwald concentration camp after liberation The
first edition of Photos That Changed the World appeared in 2000, one
of various volumes put out by the great art and photography publisher
Prestel to commemorate both the accomplishments and tragedies of
the 20th century, in this instance as they were captured in still
photography. There’s a new edition of the work out this year, and
the only difference between the two is that the newer one contains
four additional images that bring the volume squarely into the
21st century. The inclusion of these four pictures makes perfect
sense, though they depict some of the most devastating occurrences
of the last several years: the attack on the World Trade Center;
the genocide in Darfur, Sudan; the tsunami in the Indian Ocean; and
Hurricane Katrina’s ravenous effect on New Orleans. Not pretty sights,
but definitely powerful and in need of inclusion in such a book.
Perhaps the most famous Holocaust image, taken in the Warsaw
ghetto In all other ways, the work is the same as its predecessor,
and is presented with the same intent. Once again, Peter Stepan,
the editor, notes in his brief foreword that many photographs exist
that we appreciate for their composition and taste — and then there
are those photos that disturb us "so deeply that they are etched in
our memories forever." The book he has given us, especially with its
additional images, is definitely about these latter kinds of pictures,
generally known as photojournalism, which tend, if successful, to
rock the foundations of our being.
The editor then takes his point one step further: Many of the images
that have been gathered here not only moved those who saw them but they
also managed to set social action into motion, helping to transform
society in positive ways. He cites as examples Lewis W. Hine’s photos
depicting the abuses of child labor in early 20th-century America
that compelled Congress to enact stringent laws protecting the young;
and the photos taken by the Farm Security Administration, especially
in the Midwest and South, that exposed the pervasiveness of poverty
in these regions during the Great Depression.
Eventual victims of the notorious S21 prison in Cambodia, run by Pol
Pot’s regime
"Similarly," Stepan continues, "Robert Capa’s photograph of a dying
Spanish soldier, photographs of massacres in Vietnam and China,
images of starvation in Biafra — to mention but a few — mobilized
public opinion."
But he’s also had to admit that some photographs, despite the fact
that they’re as equally powerful as those he’s listed, made no such
impact, though they clearly had the potential to do so. He points to
horrific photos taken of the genocides in Armenia and Tibet.
"Perpetrated ‘on the quiet’ in obscure corners of the world," he adds,
"these crimes are in danger of being forgotten."
Neither Jewish images nor Jewish photographers predominate in Photos
That Changed the World — though the book contains examples of both
— but the Holocaust and its aftermath, to say nothing of subsequent
genocides, are pervasive. And, considering this subject alone, you
could argue that images have done nothing to eradicate the problem,
though they may have stirred public opinion and mobilized people to
protest in favor of action.
But taking the long historical view, the exposure of the Holocaust
and its horrors has not put an end to genocide, as we know from
more recent examples of the crime in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and,
as this new edition reminds us, in Darfur.
A Hutu bearing scars of Tutsi violence inflicted during the Rwandan
genocide
Nor has exposure of hate crimes through images ended anti-Semitism
or any other form of bias against specific groups. Many writers
suggested at the end of World War II that exposure to the most famous
images from the camps — the rotting piles of corpses, the stick-thin
survivors staring back at the camera as if from some netherworld —
might finally convince people that those who’d always hated Jews
meant what they said and were willing, given the proper conditions,
to act upon their feelings.
Still, it seems that no amount of images — no matter how stark or
awful in their particulars — can eradicate the ancient hatreds or
stop the crimes that generally follow along from them. For example,
have the photos of the aftermath of suicide bombings in Israel helped
to erase even a trace of anti-Semitism? I think it’s the opposite.
They may even encourage more blood lust against Jews.
But using the history of the last 15 years as a guide, photos, even the
harshest or most artful, may whip hatred into a greater frenzy than
ever before — and, in a corollary development, may perhaps dull the
senses of some so completely that indifference grows, permitting the
bold ones to perpetrate the crimes without interference from their
more pacified fellow citizens.
0350/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
