What Will Be the Image to Stop the War in Gaza? A Study on the Role of Photojournalism in Conflict

Photojournalism can easily be stated as the most effective form of media spreading – the phrase “a picture tells a thousand words” didn't come from nowhere. Photography shows how citizens actually experience a tragedy, and the end of the Vietnam War can be attributed to a single shot. There has been a similar movement for photojournalism to cover the war in Gaza, yet this hasn't has as successful an impact as in previous cases.

Within the Vietnam War, photojournalism played a significant role, producing some era-defining photographs that revolutionised how the world viewed war and its implications. They still retain their power today; at a time of insurgency in media sharing these photos played a crucial role in stopping two decades worth of fighting. One photo in particular (Nick Ut's “The Terror of War”) is generally received as the defining photo of this period, and the one that stopped the war altogether.

This photograph was influential in achieving America’s withdrawal in the war that same year. “The Terror of War”, in particular, is seen as especially heart-breaking as it shows the destruction of an innocent childhood. Another photo and an interview with the photographer, Eddie Adams, represent exactly how much of an impact a photo can have on the entire world. Ben Wright, associate director for Communications at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, said in this article that “There’s something in the nature of a still image that deeply affects the viewer and stays with them … The film footage of the shooting, while ghastly, doesn’t evoke the same feelings of urgency and stark tragedy.”

In the same article, the photographer's editor wrote, “in one frame, [this photo] symbolises the full war’s brutality … it summarises what has gone before, captures a current moment and, if we are smart enough, tells us something about the future brutality all wars promise.” Adams himself also notes the drastic impact his work had. “Two people died in that photograph; the general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera.”

Even though there are so many more elements in a film, the photograph allows for much more to be shown in such a little amount of space; the intensity of the work affronts the senses and allows a person to feel all the emotions of a film in the instance it takes to observe a photograph, highlighting the complexity of war and the horrors it brings to the people witnessing it as well as those observing it from the outside.

These same techniques have been used with the war in Gaza. Photographs of the same nature, if not more horrific, are circling not only on news sites but across the general public's social media pages, yet they seem not to make any difference whatsoever. In a conflict that has lasted several decades already, nothing seems to be done about this violence.

An article from New Republic analyses some of the photos being taken, saying that, “Perhaps that’s why their images were so arresting: Theirs depicted a scene not immediately recognizable as one of war, nor one of chaos, but rather of anticipation.” Modern photographers also choose to show the impact on children affected, but this is no longer the saddest things about the photographs taken. New Republic again says, “Families of Hamas’s victims and captives are struggling to hold the image of their loved ones in their minds without them being punctured by the brutal scenes of their murder or kidnapping that continue to circulate online.”

*Image courtesy of Saleh Najm and Anas Sharif via Wikimedia, ©2023. Some rights reserved.*

Current photographers are still capturing images of innocent lives taken away and the scenes we see in the news grow more harrowing every day, yet whilst the leaders of the most powerful states are condemning this violence nothing is being done to stop it. Our modern situation means we have a new perspective on these photographs; they represent a constant and normal order in today’s media. It is something that has become commonplace where it wasn't at the time of the Vietnam War, but the role of photography hasn't become any less important.

So why has nobody taken the photo to end the conflict? It can be partially attributed to the desensitisation that comes with globalisation and the frequency at which we see these images in the media. The experiences of photojournalists has not changed since “The Terror of War” was taken, yet we seem to be less affected by the scenes we are shown on a daily basis. Susie Linfield, a journalism professor at New York University said in the article by New Repubic that “Images, more and more, are used as a kind of incitement to violence rather than a revelation of it ... what I fear is that people … are becoming addicted to the violence of the images without thinking about what’s behind them.”

*Image courtesy of Edi Israel via Wikimedia, ©2008. Some rights reserved.*

That isn’t to say that the photographs are any less graphic than before. Gaza photographer Samar Abu Elouf said to CNN that, “Being a journalist in Gaza feels like you're dying on the inside over and over again.” Her bravery is incredible; she goes on to say, “I don’t know what it’s like to run from danger, I only run toward it. Even when a missile is dropping, I don’t run.” CNN then comments, “It’s her duty as a photojournalist, she says, to give voice to oppressed people everywhere.” If that doesn't define the mission as a journalist you'd be hard-pressed to find a more straight-forward quote.

These images really are truly heart-breaking, yet they no longer seem to elicit the appropriate response. They are dismissed too quickly because nobody seem able to see the true message any more. We see images like these on social media daily, so accept it as a small part of daily life, the part of the news to sit through and briefly feel sad about before the “real” stuff comes on. These stories being reduced to a second out of someone's day does not pay justice to the horrors the subjects have to endure hour upon hour, year upon year. The conflict carries on as we scroll past yet more images, so what will be the tipping point? What will make people stop and realise somebody needs to take action?

*Image courtesy of DYKT Mohigan via Wikimedia, ©2009. Some rights reserved.*

We have not yet found a photo that will inspire our leaders to make a difference. People have become too desensitised for these images to do anything about it; these brutal wars are simply accepted as part of the world now. But as Abu Elouf says, “These are human beings, not just bags of flesh, blood and bones. Bodies of all sizes, from new-borns to grandparents. These are people who dreamed of living until tomorrow and had hope they would survive the war.” For people to be moved into action, the world must find another form of media that invokes an even stronger reaction - I dread to think how horrific that would be. But if we can no longer feel enough empathy to be able to create change, how can we feasibly make progress with foreign affairs?

Cover image generated using ChatGPT from the prompt “An abstract image that may represent the photograph that will stop the war in Gaza, similarly to the role that photojournalism played in the Vietnam war.”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.