Day 6

Why editors wouldn't print a war photo and what it teaches us today

In 1991, the American photographer Kenneth Jarecke took a shot of an incinerated Iraqi soldier that captured a brutal side of the Gulf War, rarely seen in the U.S. media at that time. The Associated Press didn't put the photo on the wire and Life magazine decided to pull the image from a planned feature. Most American's wouldn't see the photo...

In 1991, the American photographer Kenneth Jarecke took a shot of an incinerated Iraqi soldier that captured a brutal side of the Gulf War, rarely seen in the U.S. media at that time. 

The Associated Press didn't put the photo on the wire and Life magazine decided to pull the image from a planned feature. Most American's wouldn't see the photo


Twenty-three years later this situation is hard to imagine, where photos taken by citizens with cell phones as well as photojournalists are everywhere on social media.

Day 6 reached photographer, Kenneth Jarecke in Billings, Montana where we asked him about his iconic photo and what a media landscape filled with amateur cell phone images means for photojournalism.

We've also put together a comparison of iconic cell phone images and photojournalism from the Middle East to explore what each type of image shows us.



The War in Iraq

Armature Journalism:  Unsourced image from 2003 of American soldiers capturing Saddam Hussein near Tikrit, Iraq.

  

hussein.jpeg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpeg


Professional Photojournalism : Samar Hassan screams after her parents were killed by U.S. soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division in a shooting January 18, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. The troops fired on the Hassan family car when it approached them during a dusk patrol. (Credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)


222.jpg


Armature Photo In this undated photo, an Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib Prison cowers before a U.S. soldier and a trained dog. (Photo courtesy of Washington Post via Getty Images)



5103883333.jpg


Professional Photo : An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005. (Credit Jorge Silva/Reuters)



dX-7h4A2tDcTPCgddOJQ1M68DGqxxAKnb1p9ts1FR2QazqPJxs17vUCjFOq-ef6Di-kASAVMnMkDqmoXDUZUMg.jpg


The Arab Spring

Armature Photo: A cell phone image reported by Al Jazeera to be the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouaziz. This act is widely considered to have launched the Arab Spring. (credit: Al Jazeera).



aljazz.jpg


Professional Photo: A member of the Free Syrian Army takes position in Al-Qsair, southwest of the flashpoint city Homs, on January 27, 2012. (Credit Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty Image)


138151096.jpg