The Miller reading in the Illuminations book brought the
reality of war to life. From earlier readings of Wells it mentioned how woman
were subjected towards “domestic” photographs and the men were associated with
war photography. This article visualizes the grotesque nature of war. Miller
even mentioned on how she stepped on a disembodied hand. This article points
out that woman photographers were included in the middle of the war action.
Miller was in a town in France that was in the middle of battle, and mentioned
her close proximity to the aerial bombings. She was friends with some of the
soldiers and was asked to photograph them in war, and also to give them a kiss.
She did not make it seem that she was offended by the men’s request other than
that they were homesick and fighting in forced conditions for their families.
The whole article was about loneliness and the reality of death. She struggled
with her photograph because the city she once knew was in ruins. She constantly
mentioned the random gunshots that would come by from where she was occupied at
the time. She found dark room materials in a shop down the street when she ran
out of film and even though there was no running water she was appreciative of
the resources she found that would help her develop her film. She decided to
make a darkroom in a small room, but a gunshot ruined the absolute darkness. In
the end of the article it was about her sitting in a dark room with an innocent
kitten in horrible conditions. This whole article was depressing and she was
constantly surrounded by danger, but it pointed out her courage and passion
about photography at all costs. That is something to admire about a woman going
out into a “mans realm” in the mist of danger.
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