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Susanne Helmert's avatar

Very interesting essay and commentary here! Thank you, Pierre!

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Mark White's avatar

I assume you are both familiar with Patrick Witty here on Substack? His take on iconic war/tragedy images are always insightful. I think one issue to keep in mind always, is that we look at these images with a many-year historical perspective, long after the jury of popular culture/opinion has had its say. The images by now are fully stamped into our consciousness. But as you and William point out, at the time of the actual photograph taking, this was just one of many, many images that would likely get filed away in the archives. Who amongst us photographers has any say in what photos go viral? I mean, we can make the choice NOT to shoot a particular photo for ethical reasons, but once we take the picture and make it public, it's out of our hands, no? How Lange or Ut handled the eventual notoriety is where there is room for serious critique of the photographer's intention. I'm not certain Lange handled it very well, but that's for another essay.

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