From Realism to Virtual Reality

The progression of war photography is very interesting to read about. From the beginning war photography, like painting, was sometimes used for patriotism and propaganda, showing a general/soldier/country in a positive light. But as shown with the Vietnam war, photography can cause a significant negative impact on how the public perceives a war.It was the first war to be televised and showed the true horrors of war. The image of the NLF prisoner being killed with a revolver is credited as the most influential image to come out of the Vietnam war. The image has since become an anti-war icon. The photographers (Eddie Adams and NBC news) were however turned into villains for taking the images and letting them be on the front page of newspapers and magazines. Because of the general public's disapproval of the evidence of what was happening in Vietnam, the photographers were given the blame. As the piece states, this is a huge difference from early war photographers, such as civil war photographers, who were praised for showing the "truth" about war and death to the American people. "...photographers must be allowed to image for the public only what the military deems suitable," I find this quote to still hold a lot of truth today. Photos showing our military in a positive light are praised celebrated while any showing dark truths about what our government/military are doing are naturally condemned.