Telling the Full Stories of War: Conflict Photojournalism

Photography Tips

From June 29th through September 29th, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is showing the exhibit, War Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath. The gallery contains over 200 photographs from dozens of photojournalists and covers wars from 1846 to 2012. In this video, ReasonTV interviews photojournalist Michael Kamber at the exhibit about his recent book and thoughts on the Iraq war:

What’s interesting about this gallery is that it doesn’t focus solely on the armed conflicts themselves, but shows the events surrounding them. Here are some of the other things that the exhibit shows:

• Soldiers’ Free Time – Soldiers are not always fighting 24/7. Many of them have a lot of downtime in between missions and conflicts. Some photos show the lighter moments of the soldiers’ daily lives.

• The Other Side – Americans are not the only soldiers in the war. Many of the images in the gallery show soldiers America has fought with or against and gives a bit of their perspective.

• Families and Children – The soldiers are not the only ones affected by war. Their wives, children, and other family members are heavily affected as well.

• The Environment – War is not just about surviving bullets and bombs. The environment also takes a heavy toll on all those who are involved in the war. The heat, cold, humidity, bugs, and lack of food and water are all possible factors to deal with during armed conflicts.

The exhibition also shows some of the lighter sides of war

Some images show the other side of the war, not just the American side

Photographs showing the landscape and other environmental elements of the wars