English

proposal_of_final_paper.docx

what can we see in the war?

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, ” war photographer Robert Capa used to say, “you aren’t close enough.” Yes, it’s true. Every picture in our history books are made by these war photographers, and even sacrificed their life. How can we know the war? What is the wartime photography? What we know from the wartime photography? These three questions will run through my paper.

Technology can influence human society through new products, and many inventions have changed our impressions of society. Among these inventions, I think the camera is the best way to record war and history, which created images that readily appeared allowing society to view the world in a new light. Photos provide a most direct and truest way to look at war, because photos not only record the fierce combat in the war, but also other stories behind the war, such as blood injury, family loss or some positive images about friendship and peace. War film also is a good way to watch history, but sometimes it has exaggerate elements, so the degree of direct reduction of photos are much higher than movie.

War photography implies more than military combat. It’s an artistic medium that encompasses the impact of war on civilians, environments, and culture. Generally, the invention of the camera allowed for a person to document and record history or daily living as he or she experienced. Today, photography is high tech and continues to be considered an art form, whether it depicts cultural activities or documents war. Not only can it be viewed in a gallery, but we also use it to gain information regarding past and current events, as well as the future. Photography continues to provide a window into the world at large.

The most famous prize in journalism field is Pulitzer Prize. I think every one should take a second to look through these winning photos, because they are all heartbreaking photos and have a magic power to reflect history. In my paper, I will take some examples of the most famous photos in the world: federal agents grabbing a boy at gunpoint inside a Miami home, a starving girl and a hungry vulture, Marines at Iwo Jima, a Vietnam napalm attack. These photos have many backgrounds, so I want to connect these photos with war, there must have a relationship.

To sum up, recording war and history need photography, and photography provides a approach to freezing the time.