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The recent photographs taken of US troops apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners-of-war in Abu Ghraib Jail have attracted attention across the world. Although it is too early to say whether these images will come to represent the essential character of the current Iraq conflict, they have altered public perceptions, producing doubt about the wisdom of the war that was not so apparent when the fighting began. Furthermore, they have been used in the Middle East by groups seeking to show that Western troops are engaged in a modern crusade against Arab nations rather than a so-called 'war against terrorism'. In this paper we explore images of war, which have gained iconic status. Each has captured a change in perception or an underlying mood not yet fully expressed. Often adopted by campaigners or governments for propaganda purposes, their powerful message may be modified over time as ideas attached to the event itself evolve. It is important to understand the genesis of iconic images of war because they can fundamentally alter the beliefs of future generations without necessarily capturing the complexity of such events.
The rise of the iconic war photograph
Although photography emerged as a new visual medium in the midnineteenth century, iconic photographs of actual warfare are a relatively recent phenomenon and largely date from the second World War. The reasons are both technical (relating to the design of cameras, methods of processing film and the advance of mass communication) and social (relating to the changing nature of public interest in the experiences of soldiers). Although Roger Fenton, among the first war photographers, was sent to record the Crimean War, he remained under military supervision and avoided taking any pictures that might suggest mismanagement. He had been sent in March 1855 specifically to counteract the critical reports of William Howard Russell published in The Times. In addition, Fenton applied a form of self-censorship, believing that the Victorian public would not tolerate the grim realities of battle. He refrained, for example, from photographing mutilated bodies left after the Charge of the Light Brigade.1 Only when soldiers had recovered from the worst of their wounds did Fenton photograph them in formal portraits. Moreover, the technical demands of the camera, requiring exposure times of several minutes, limited its application...