The Violence of the Image: Photography and International Conflict

Photography has visualized international relations and conflicts from the midnineteenth century onwards and continues to be an important medium in framing the worlds of distant, suffering others. Although photojournalism has been challenged in recent decades, claims that it is dead are premature. The Violence of the Image examines the roles of image producers and the functions of photographic imagery in the documentation of wars, violent conflicts and human rights issues; tackling controversial ideas such as 'witnessing', the making of appeals based on displays of human suffering and the much-cited concept of 'compassion fatigue'. In the twenty-first century, the advent of dgtl photography, camera phones and socialmedia platforms has altered the relationship between photographers, the medium and the audience- as well as contributing to an ongoing blurring of the boundaries between news and entertainment and professional and amateur journalism. The Violence of the Image explores how new vernacular and artistic modes of photographic production articulate international friction.This innovative, timely book makes a major contribution to discussions about the power of the image in conflict.

About the Author

Liam Kennedy is Professor of American Studies and Director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of" Susan Sontag: Mind as Passion "(1995) and "Race and Urban Space in American Culture" (2000), and editor of "Urban Space and Representation" (1999), "The Visual Culture of Urban Regeneration" (2004), and "The Wire: Race, Class and Genre" (2012). Caitlin Patrick was Postdoctoral Fellow for the Photography and International Conflict project at University College Dublin from 2008-2011 and she is currently a Research Associate for Bournemouth University on a joint project entitled I-Witnessing: Global Crisis Reporting Through the Amateur Lens.