Today, our course visited the Imperial War Museum to visit the Sean Smith exhibition looking at the Iraq war throughout its length, and the impact it has caused throughout Iraqi society, as well as back in America and Britain.
A lot of his work looked at the people who lived in Iraq and the soldiers of Erica and Britain at work, protecting, or not protecting, the members of the community that lived there. I cannot begin to imagine the conditions that both the civilians and the soldiers lived in, the entire photographic body of work evokes emotions that I have never felt before. I know one person, whom is not a close friend or relative, who has been deployed to a different country, so have not personally felt the pain and torment that comes with being an army wife or mother. However, after viewing these pieces of work, I can imagine what their family and friends must go through everyday.
This is one of the most thought provoking images that I looked at whilst viewing the exhibition. It was soon after Saddam Hussain does, the statue was pulled down from the centre of Iraq, ending the frightening rule he had over Iraq. I remember this incident, not well, as I was only about 9/10 years old. However, you can tell by the urgency in the soldiers eyes that what is happening has to happen fast, however, there is also a sense of happiness in his eyes, maybe hope that the war will soon be over?
The photographs were displayed in a one-four-one composition. One big photograph was displayed, followed by four smaller photographs in a square format. They were all part of a smaller series within the exhibition, and therefore all related to one another.
A lot of the photographs were not nice to look at but showed the real side of the Iraq war, not the filtered news we see on the television or hear on the papers. It's an accurate report of what went on in everyday life. The photographs contain blood and gore, wounds and women crying. Some people who viewed the exhibition, such as my friend who came to the exhibition with me, didn't understand why the photographer simply stood back whilst the pain and war was going on. Was he not emphatic to the situation at all, or was he simply there for the photojournalism and his job, feeling helpless to do anything for dear of getting hurt himself. I hope it is the latter. His photographs are inspiring, and have given me inspiration to take on the brief given to use from Areas of Photgraphic Practice B to the best of my ability!
This was my favourite photograph from entire exhibition, it is just compositionally perfect, the man in the foreground fighting for the spotlight photographically with the helicopter. The sunset in the distance makes the photograph look warm and promising, when in reality, there is a prisoner who is suspected of committing terrorist crimes about to be "dealt with", in whatever way that may be.
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