War/Photography

Mid-March, The Annenberg Space for Photography opened their newest exhibit, entitled “War/Photography.” As the title suggests, the gallery focuses on images relating to war, be it the lead-up to conflict, the actual fighting, or the aftermath in its wake. While the main documentary and subsections focus primarily on six photographers, there are over 75 journalists represented in the gallery, including such legends as James Nachtway and Robert Capa.

In stark contrast to past showings, the current exhibit features primarily black and white photographs. Part of this is the implementation of photography as a medium to portray war is a relatively new field, color or digital even more so. Rather than dividing images based on the conflict in which they are taken, they are divided into “arcs of war,” or different stages in which a conflict passes through. As a result, the bright color photographs often stand highlighted amid several a sea of monotone. In a few cases this works well, such as Damon Winter’s “Flying Military Class” of a group of soldiers crammed into a military airliner or the several 9/11 shots scattered throughout.

While I did like that the curators decided to divide these photographs by something other than which war they were taken in, I did feel that the subsections were a little scattered or had no flow. Aftermath is right next to Recruitment, for example, and many of the major themes touched upon were not given large headers despite being outright mentioned on the opening wall of the exhibit.
I did enjoy many of the non-print related objects scattered throughout. They were usually photography themed but included copies of magazines of their era, a custom-made silver print book, personal journals, and so on. These added a nice touch to the displays while still remaining within the theme of photography overall.

The quality of the prints included were great as usual, with varying sizes and ages included. Even someone with very little understanding of either history or photography are likely to recognize a few of the major pieces included. Seeing prints of Malcolm Brown’s “Burning Monk,” the famous “Times Square Kiss” by Alfred Eisenstaedt, or Nick Ut’s Vietnamese child running down Highway 1 were fairly powerful in person. There seemed to be a greater level of appreciation and emotion when these photographs are seen outside of a textbook setting. A particularly powerful print is that of Joe Rosenthal’s iconic “Old Glory.” Supposedly, the print on display was the first one made from the original negative, making it an extremely important piece in the medium and our country’s history.

The documentary was well-done, and many of the photographs displayed before and after looked great on the high-def resolution screen. I particularly liked the portions with João Silva. A member of the “Bang Bang Club,” he made headlines a few years ago when he lost his legs due to a landmine while covering the current conflict in the Middle East. His story is one of the real, brutal nature of war but also of the tenacity and drive of these photographers to bring these images to the people back home. Apparently, he is still shooting topics of conflict around the world.

Overall the exhibit is a very good one, and arguably one of the more important ones the Space has had recently. It can be extremely graphic in times, and is not for the feint of heart. However, it is a very “real” display with images that are not supposed to be softened or censored. As Kenneth Jarecke explains on his image of an incinerate Iraqi, “If I don’t make pictures like this, people like my mother will think what they see in war is what they see in movies.”

The War exhibit will be open through June 2nd.