Recently I've been to view the exhibition at Imperial War Museum North, based around Sean Smith and his work in Iraq. The exhibition was to mark 10 years since the start of the war in Iraq. Smith spent a lot of time in Iraq over the years working as a photojournalist for The Guardian so a lot of his work was shot for publication, however there were several parts that were more social documentary. He was approached by IWMN and asked to select a series of images to mark the 10 years and so he did.
He was shooting at a time when it was heavily featured in the media, several of the shots show events and scenes that would have never made it into The Guardian. They would send out the wrong message. Linking to Fred Ritchin's book, photojournalism these days is a tool used to portray a message. Photographs can be crafted in a similar way to words to help persuade for an idea or argument.
The images featured in this exhibition are quite interesting, he portrayed every possible side to the conflict. The soldiers who were 'fighting' for the cause, the locals affected and everyone else involved. We see a side to things that was less reported in the British media. Some of the shots are gruesome, some are comical and some are shocking. This is a nice reflection on the real world, I feel as though there was little censorship in his work and it's apparent that as a photographer Smith isn't afraid to get amongst it all. The addition of text on the walls was a nice touch, it helped link the photojournalism aspect to the documentary feel of some of the photographs.
One of the more striking images for me is the young boy holding the rabbit. To find something as pristine as a fully white rabbit in a war zone just seems crazy. The child in the photograph seems to be innocent, it's a small window into what a real childhood should be like. Instead the child is growing up amongst one of the most dangerous conflicts after WWII. I imagine it was a hard task for Smith to stay so impartial, of course he's there to document the war but he's paid by the British. The Guardian are obviously wanting photographs that show American & British troops in a positive light in order to justify our involvement in the war.
The photographs chosen for the exhibition feel very real. It's a small window into the chaos of warfare from every angle. As the general public we can't imagine the horrors the people involved are seeing but this exhibition is as close as we can get, it brings up a range of emotions using a limited number of images which is a hard thing to do. As a society we are quite hardened to disturbing images, we hear about death everyday on the news but to see it so apparent in a war lasting so long is even more disturbing. Media coverage died off at several points throughout the war but it's apparent from Smiths photographs that it never got any easier. He's made a great job of taking a photojournalism project into a documentary project and making a connection between the subjects and the audience.
It's strange to see the community in Iraq and the way they live their lives amongst the chaos of military rule. After 10 years of being heavily involved with the military it is clear that relations between the Iraq public and military were improved. The soldiers were there to offer protection alongside humanitarian aid and in the photographs it's clear it was an uphill struggle for the army to gain the trust and support of the locals.
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