Review: Bearing Witnesses: Five Years of the Iraq War -- Image from Reuters

One of the comment I have received from Assignment is that the tutor would like to see some reference to the work of other practitioners and any influence that might have upon my work. 


And I am supposed to blog it on the learning log.

Oh well.

So let's start with my favourite photograph of all time. I do not know the name of the photographer who took this, but he belongs to Reuters News Agency. This photograph first showed up in an exhibition in Shoreditch, London, under the title "Bearing Witnesses: Five Years of the Iraq War" back in 2008. Due to copyright, I am not supposed to just post the image here, but you can see it in the flash video in this link.

http://iraq.reuters.com/

If you hit "click to start", the photograph I am looking at is the very last one in the flash video before the credit roll. It is roughly at around 4 minites 11 sec. The shot features a man who is blind-folded walking out a vehicle, while the reflection on the back windows show the reflection of a soldier look at the blue sky. The facial expressions of the two men are complete contrary: the soldier looks happy, while the blind-fold man looks uncertain. 

Technically there is a lot to say about the photograph. For example the balance of the image between two men almost equally devide the frame, the eye-catching red (car frame) vs blue (sky) combination that meet at a third of the colour wheel, or the detail of the soldier eventhough he is just a reflection of the window.

However, sometime photography technique doesn't mean much. Personally I have seen shots are are technically perfect but they are just boring. The image carries a message, story. Usually it is very difficult to construct or encounter such screen. I think it is the shape contrast between the two men's facial expressions that lead me to the question "so, what happpened?". Of course, exhibited under the title "Five Years of the Iraq War" gives some direction for imagination. So I guess this makes sense to put title on you images, because it gives view additional information to guide their minds. It should not be surprised that the US soldier comes out victorious. In fact, shortly one month after the war was started, US had declared the "war effectively over". The irony is, as of 2011, with the amount of civil unrest, it is not clear if anybody has won at all. For the local Iraqis, regardless which sides they take, their future is totally uncertain. 


We don't know what the actual event between two men, but the image is so iconic of the Iraq war. Basically one image highlighted the irony of this war.


It worth noting the the colour of reflection is very clear. I wonder if it is possible to get such strong colour naturally (ie without editing it in post process).