The Images — Tragedy and Loss
Germany: 1933, New York: 2001, Paris: 2015. Tragedy strikes. Shockwaves ripple across the globe. A subject is created. An event considered to be a disaster becomes a source of expression.
Picture a vast city skyline, calm from a distance, holding so much inside. A plane comes flying into frame, getting closer and closer to the buildings. The small dot flies into one of two large towers. History is changed.
September 11th, 2001, for many Americans, is a day of sorrow. A day in which we reflect, as a country, on the events that tried to threaten our freedom and stability. On that historic day we, as a nation, rose to show the world that we will not tolerate actions by organizations that strive to endanger sovereignty. During this dark time, nations worldwide watched in horror as pictures and video emerged from ground zero. Globally, support was shown to the United States through a time of crisis. Nearly all of this was expressed through photographs.
The famous images that came out of the September 11th attacks will forever be remembered. Art is considered by many to be human expression in its purest form. Emotionally speaking, there is nothing that compares to the work following tragic events. Looking at events such as 9/11, there are many different ways in which an event can be presented to an audience. Oftentimes, images can be the most powerful storytellers of all. By freezing a perfect moment in time with a riveting subject, a photographer can send a moving message to the world through a single frame. A Time Magazine article showed the most moving photos from September 11th. Vin Alabiso, head of photography at the Associated Press on September 11, 2001, gave his thoughts on the photos from the event.
“Of the thousands of images that were captured, I thought only a handful would truly resonate with me. I was wrong. As a document of a day filled with horror and heroism, the collective work of so many professionals and amateurs leaves its own indelible mark on our memory.”
The way in which an audience receives images is critical to the image’s overall impact. A 2013 Huffington Post Article explains the connection between photography and psychology. Ming Thein, a commercial photographer who wrote the article, explained the elements that allow a photograph to be successful.
“Photography is fundamentally a relationship between the photographer and the viewer.”
At it’s core, for a photograph to be successful it must tell the intended story to the viewer through only the means of the image. Using light, composition, and perspective, there are technical ways in which the photographer creates an image to tell the intended story. The psychological tract the explains how the brain processes images follows this pattern: emotion = life = association = impact. When a photograph evokes emotion, the brain seeks to find something in an individual’s life that is connected to that emotion. Once one finds the emotion, that life moment and feelings become associated with the image, thus creating the emotional connection.
Images like these, taken by photographers John Botte and Gulnara Samoilova, follow the psychological tract. With the first photo, by associating one’s own feelings of friendship or hardship, feelings within the image are evoked. This explains the transfer of the the message and impact that the photographer conveys. With regards to the second photo, the tract is the same, yet the emotions are entirely different. Distress, sadness, and disbelief are all emotions one may associate with this image. Therefore, the audience feels nearly the exact emotions that the those in the image feel.
However, this raises a question regarding the morality behind photographing tragic events. Is it right to make other people’s suffering a subject and distribute it? Well, as always, there are two sides to consider. One argument says that other’s mourning should be strictly off limits for photographers and that it is morally unjust to use tragic events and the people involved with them for personal gain. The other side says that human emotion in its rawest form is the most powerful form of expression. The intention of a photographer is not to use other’s pain as a source of profit or for personal gain. It is to send a message that others cannot. In the case of a tragedy, the goal is to create an image that is powerful and expresses feelings such as distress or strength. As previously explained, human emotion leaves an extremely strong impact on an image. The use of other’s emotions is a way in which photographers can show the scope of the events portrayed. Both sides state valid points however, it is up to the audience to determine whether or not it is just.
Through the course of history, the world has been moved by photographs. Regardless of content, each one has it’s own unique impact and tells it’s own story. Tragic photos expose the true effect of events on human beings. By bridging the emotional gap between victims and audience, photographs tell the stories that people cannot.
