Through the Lens Essay
Does a Picture Really Tell A Thousand Words? According to John Berger, photographs from August 6th, 1945, are “images of hell.” (316) That was the day the US dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, killing countless innocent civilians and severely burning others. In his essay, “Hiroshima,” Berger faces the idea that our culture has “abandoned” the “concept of evil.” (320) Countless pictures seem to be the only thing left of that day, and from Berger’s perspective, the true meaning of that event has been hidden, even though the facts are still in textbooks. The concept of horrific pictures being taken plays an important role in Berger’s thoughts about Hiroshima, because those pictures are what initially sparked his interest. However, the idea of sharing of graphing pictures is called into question by Susan Sontag in her essay, “Regarding the Pain of Others,” who points out that war photography should have some form of censorship because of the effect it may have on victims or families who have lost their loved ones. While Berger doesn’t seem to promote graphic photography, it seems that from his point of view, pictures such as these make a reality of what otherwise might just become another page in our history books. “These paintings [by survivors] were shown on Japanese television. Is it conceivable that the BBC would show these pictures on Channel One at a peak hour?” (319) He makes a strong point that American television would never show those pictures without “ reference to ‘political’ and ‘military’ realities” (319) because it was our country that caused such destruction. Sontag almost reinforces this idea by saying that “the camera brings the viewer close, too close,” (259) but at the same time contradicts it by implying that war pictures sometimes provide inaccurate information because of new age technology. Cameras and computers today
Cited: Berger, John “Hiroshima” Fields of Reading, 2010, Bedford/ St.Martin’s Sontag, Susan “Regarding the Pain of Others” Fields of Reading, 2010, Bedford/ St.Martin’s