Brief
Recent years have seen a shift from an action-based and highly visceral kind of war photography towards ‘aftermath’ photography – quiet, contemplative, often large-scale and aesthetically beautiful images of places of devastation.
In fact, this approach is reminiscent of the work of one of the earliest war photographers, Roger Fenton, who photographed battle scenes with dead bodies and took portraits of soldiers in quieter moments. Contemporary versions of this form are usually devoid of people and engender a pensive mindset in the viewer.
In his 2003 essay ‘Safety in Numbness: Some remarks on the problem of ‘late photography’ ’, David Campany sets out his concerns about the ability of aftermath (or ‘late’) photography to convey the complexity of political events. In particular he considers Joel Meyerowitz, the official photographer selected to photograph scenes after 9/11, whose work he considers too safe and beautiful and therefore not fitting for depicting the horrific scenes of terrorism.
Campany argues that these large-scale contemplative works become a monument to national grief that deadens the desire to seek a political explanation:
“Certainly, the late photograph is often used as a vehicle for mass
mourning or working through … The danger is that it can also foster an
indifference and political withdrawal that masquerades as concern.
Mourning by association becomes merely an aestheticized response.”
Campany, D. Safety in Numbness: Some remarks on the problems of
‘Late Photography’ – David Campany (2003)
Campany’s essay is easy to follow and worth a read. You’ll find it online by searching ‘ David Campany, Safety in Numbness’.
In combining the horror of the situation and the aesthetic pull of the image, the 9/11 Falling Man , like Migrant Mother , came to sum up a whole epoch.
In 2002 Paul Seawright was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to make a series of images of the war in Afghanistan. He adopted an aftermath approach: devoid of action, a lingering threat lurks behind the stillness of these images. The title Hidden also directs us to an invisible danger.
Introduction
Aftermath photography was a new term to me as was ‘Late Photography’. While I understand the move from photographing “action shots” of war and disasters to a more considered thoughtful approach as with Joel Meyerowitz’s work Aftermath I’m not sure that one should replace the other. Certainly, the attack on the twin towers caused a deep scar in the America psyche, to a nation that was not used to anyone attacking them so boldly it came as a major shock and inevitably the photographing of New York after the event needed to be thoughtful and contemplative. Hence the work of Meyerowitz.
I think than Campany has been somehow unfair to him in his comments in his essay Safety in Numbness
Meyerowitz’ imagery is not so much the trace of an event as the trace of the trace of an event. (Safety in Numbness: Some remarks on the problems of ‘Late Photography’, 2003)
This does not give the images that Markowitz has produced the status they deserve; it might have been better to have questioned the decision to only allow one photographer access to the site. We all see things and events in differ ways and as such 10 photographers will have produce 10 different outlooks on the remains of that day’s events.
While looking at this I came across the image of the falling man and looking at it in hindsight this is just as compelling a picture probably more so than the devastation because it shows the real horror of the day. Until I watched this video, I did not realise that Richard Drew had taken many images of people falling. I’m not sure I could do what he did, continue to record history in those moments of horror.
As for the question was Roger Fenton the first photojournalist? He certainly visited the Crimea in order to photograph the war there in 1855. He took 350 images with very cumbersome equipment on glass plates that had to be developed under very difficult conditions.
Fig 2 The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Cannonballs in ditch
Fig 3 The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Cannonballs on road
He produced his famous image “in the valley of the shadow of death” in 1855. Although this was not at the site of the famous light brigade charge but was several miles east of the actual location. There is much controversy over whether this image was stage, mainly because there are 2 photographs taken from the same position by Fenton. One shows the cannon balls in the ditch the other shows some of the cannon balls on the road.
Although the video above seems to answer which image was taken first the question that will never be answered is why the cannon balls were moved. Personally, I would like to believe that he took the first image and then troops came along to collect cannon balls for reuse and Fenton thought “Yes that’s a better picture” and with his camera still set up he exposed another plate.
312 of these images were exhibited and he gave a presentation to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This is a far cry from the almost immediate Photojournalism we expect today.
In Paul Seawright’s work “Hidden” is the image when he was in Afghanistan in 2002. There are very definite shades of Fenton’s image from Crimea
“Commissioned by the Imperial War Museum, London in their longstanding series of war art commissions, Hidden was a response to the war in Afghanistan in 2002. Photographs of minefields and battlesites acknowledge that almost everything in the conflict was hidden or invisible”.
(Hidden — Paul Seawright, s.d.)
Illustrations
Fig. 1. Fenton’s assistant, Marcus Sparling, on the photographic van, Crimea, c 1855., Fenton, Roger (s.d.) At: http://www.ssplprints.com/image/95779/fenton-roger-fentons-asistant-marcus-sparling-on-the-photographic-van-crimea-c-1855 (Accessed 29/09/2021).
Fig 2. Valley_of_the_Shadow_of_Death.jpg (1920×1525) (s.d.) At: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Valley_of_the_Shadow_of_Death.jpg (Accessed 30/09/2021).
Fig 3. Valley+BC.jpg (1000×800) (s.d.) At: https://grahamcontextandnarrative.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/d3fa1-valleybc.jpg (Accessed 30/09/2021).
Fig. 4. Valley+BC.jpg (1000×800) (s.d.) At: https://grahamcontextandnarrative.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/d3fa1-valleybc.jpg (Accessed 29/09/2021).
Bibliography
Safety in Numbness: Some remarks on the problems of ‘Late Photography’ (2003) At: https://davidcampany.com/safety-in-numbness/ (Accessed 29/09/2021).
Who Was the Falling Man from 9/11? – Falling Man Identity Revealed (s.d.) At: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a48031/the-falling-man-tom-junod/ (Accessed 30/09/2021).
9/11: The truth behind the famous Falling Man and his real identity (s.d.) At: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/911-the-truth-behind-the-famous-falling-man-and-his-real-identity/LUON3GKFWRAEQMDVZV574IHZSY/ (Accessed 30/09/2021).
Richard Drew on photographing the ‘Falling Man’ of 9/11 (2021) Directed by CBS Sunday Morning At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrGp270SSKM (Accessed 30/09/2021).
Faulkner, S. (2014) ‘Late photography, military landscapes, and the politics of memory’ In: The Open Arts Journal
Photographing conflict: Roger Fenton and the Crimean War (s.d.) At: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/remembrance-day-part-1-photographing-war-fenton-crimean/ (Accessed 26/09/2021).
Grant1, S. (s.d.) A terrible beauty: Roger Fenton – Tate Etc. At: https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-5-autumn-2005/terrible-beauty (Accessed 28/09/2021).Hidden — Paul Seawright (s.d.) At: http://www.paulseawright.com/hidden (Accessed 28/09/2
GR Photography 1 - Context and Narrative 
