Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 6:20:54 GMT 7
What You Don't Know About This Photograph Has the Power To Change Opinions
This gruesome photograph became pivotal anti-war propaganda that drastically shaped public opinion. The horrific frozen frame depicts a baptismal moment of unwavering distinction, a moment in a time that could not be undone, an elevated wartime tension that could not be unraveled. In this sense, the photograph was successful.
It was shocking and characteristic in its ability to drive the anti war movement, protesting against brutality of the Vietnam conflict. But, what you can't see, is enough to change your perspective completely. The common adage, A photo is worth a thousand words is true. You've heard it, as a photographer you live by it, you incorporate it into your work mantra.
But what happens when the story a photo tells is different from reality? The image, "Saigon Execution" is an example of this misrepresented story.
This iconic war photo was immediately popularized and used as valuable anti-war propaganda to depict the horrors of war. "Saigon Execution" clearly illustrates a violent moment frozen in time, but the context behind the image is not what it seems.
The iconic image won Associated Press photographer, Eddie Adams, a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for Spot News Photography. The image depicts the execution of Viet Cong prisoner, Nguyễn Văn Lém. With a caption of merely "General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon," the scene seems to depict the ruthless execution of a civilian, on a whim, in the streets of Saigon. Greater than an image, is the context. Context is the single driving force of truth past the immediate surface elements of a photograph.
More... fstoppers.com/historical/what-you-dont-know-about-photograph-has-power-change-opinions-125776
This gruesome photograph became pivotal anti-war propaganda that drastically shaped public opinion. The horrific frozen frame depicts a baptismal moment of unwavering distinction, a moment in a time that could not be undone, an elevated wartime tension that could not be unraveled. In this sense, the photograph was successful.
It was shocking and characteristic in its ability to drive the anti war movement, protesting against brutality of the Vietnam conflict. But, what you can't see, is enough to change your perspective completely. The common adage, A photo is worth a thousand words is true. You've heard it, as a photographer you live by it, you incorporate it into your work mantra.
But what happens when the story a photo tells is different from reality? The image, "Saigon Execution" is an example of this misrepresented story.
This iconic war photo was immediately popularized and used as valuable anti-war propaganda to depict the horrors of war. "Saigon Execution" clearly illustrates a violent moment frozen in time, but the context behind the image is not what it seems.
The iconic image won Associated Press photographer, Eddie Adams, a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for Spot News Photography. The image depicts the execution of Viet Cong prisoner, Nguyễn Văn Lém. With a caption of merely "General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon," the scene seems to depict the ruthless execution of a civilian, on a whim, in the streets of Saigon. Greater than an image, is the context. Context is the single driving force of truth past the immediate surface elements of a photograph.
More... fstoppers.com/historical/what-you-dont-know-about-photograph-has-power-change-opinions-125776
