War photography involves capturing armed conflicts and their human impacts. Early war photographers had to use bulky equipment and pose subjects who had to remain still for long exposures. Their photos documented aspects of war like soldiers and battle scenes. War photography remains dangerous work; over 30 photographers were killed covering the Iraq War from 2003-2009. Documentary photography chronicles historical events and everyday life. Pioneers like Jacob Riis documented urban poverty, while John Topham captured ordinary life in Britain during World War II. Both genres aim to inform audiences and record history.

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Unit 57 - Videocast Script
By Chelsie Brandrick
War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_photography
Documentary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_photography
War photography
War photography involves capturing armed conflict and its effects on people and places.
Once photography was invented in the 1830’s, people began to explore different subject matters. As the
Crimean war approached many photographers experimented with photography to capture the historic
event. As early photographers were not able to take images of moving targets, they recorded more
stationary aspects of war such as soldiers and land before and after battle along with the recreation of
action scenes. In order to produce a photograph the subject had to be still for minutes so they were posed
to be comfortable and minimise movement.
Josh McCosh was a surgeon in the Bengal Army and is considered to be the first war photographer
known by name. He photographed the Second Anglo-Sikh War from 1848-1849. His shots consisted of
portraits of fellow officers, key figures in campaigns and the weaponry the army had available.
Camera equipment was big, heavy and bulky, so although the photographers were non-combatant they
still made themselves easy targets to the enemy. Some photographers have been killed trying to take their
pictures despite them being protected by international conventions of armed warfare,as often they are
killed to make a statement. Even though today’s photography equipment is less bulky and easier to carry
the job is still dangerous. In the Iraq War,36 photographers and camera operators were abducted or killed
during the six-year conflict from 2003 – 2009.
War photos can also be beneficial for prosecuting war criminals once the war has ended. Frauke Eigen
created a photo exhibition about war crimes in Kosovo, which focused on the belongings of the victims,
and his photos were later used as evidence by the international criminal tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia.

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The impact of war photography tends to be more emotional throughout nations, and difficult to measure.
It eliminates the possibility of naivety, and forces us to acknowledge how terrible war truly is.
This causes more generalprotest to war acts,and possibly makes countries and their people less likely to
jump at war as a solution.
Mike Kamber is an American war photographer that has been travelling around the world capturing
conflict since 1986. He has been to Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, the Sudan, Haiti and Israel. Mike has
worked as a freelance photographer and sold his work to national newspapers in the United States and
United Kingdom, such as the Daily Mirror, The Washington Post, The New York Times and The
Guardian. He now is under contract to The New York Times, one of America’s best selling newspapers.
Mike has also created many exhibitions tin American to display his work, a famous example is ‘Altered
Images’ where he released 150 years worth of before and after war photos that had been faked,
manipulated digitally or staged.
The purpose of Mike’s photography is to inform his audience about the reality of war and how it affects
the people that live in the war ridden countries. He also wants to document the events as accurately as
possible as he believes it is important not to alter the photos as it wouldn’t be fair or ethically right to
change the reality of history.
Mike’s photographs are very realand show the humanity in war whilst being very personal and direct.
Many of his images feature the residents he has encountered during his time photographing the war,
which enables the viewer to see the impact the war is having on the innocent people that live there. His
other photos are raw accounts of bombings, raids, fighting and the affect the war had on the soldiers
fighting. All of his photos are gripping and moving which is the sign of a great photographer and I think
that as his photos are published by major newspapers Mike is achieving his goal of informing and
educating a mass audience about the effects and reality of war.
http://www.kamberphoto.com
https://petapixel.com/2015/08/04/interview-michael-kamber-on-photojournalism-ethics-and-the-altering-
of-images/
Documentary photography

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Documentary photography refers to a popular form used to chronicle events or environments significant
and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life.
Documentary photography soon followed war photography in the 1850’s when archaeologists travelled
out to Egypt to capture the ruins and wilderness of the east. New technology and subject matter shifted
documentary photography from landscapes to cities and began to focus more on people.
Jacob Riis was a police reporter for the New York Tribune newspaper and in the early 1880’s reported the
city’s lower east side slums with his own photographs and became known as one of the city’s most
important social reformers.
In 1900, Alice Harris travelled to the Congo Free State with her husband and photographed the Belgian
atrocities against local people with a Kodak. The images were widely distributed and were critical in
changing public perceptions of slavery.
In the 1970s many critics attacked the traditional style of documentary photography that was being
produced, which created a new documentary style that was philosophically more rigorous and much more
left wing in it’s politics.
Since the 1970’s the decline of magazine published photos reduced the amount of documentary
photography being distributed and viewed. Many photographers focused on the art world and galleries to
present their work and make a living. Traditional documentary photography has found a place in
dedicated photography galleries alongside other artists working in painting, sculpture and modern media.
John Topham was an English social documentary photographer who worked from 1927 – 1973
documenting the ordinary way of ordinary people and focused on the little things in life. He is noted for
his photographs taken during the Second World War era,with some appearing in popular Life Magazine
and one currently on display in the Imperial War Museum. The TopFoto collection holds over 120,000 of
his pictures and displays them to the public in exhibitions and galleries.
Topham was working as a policeman in the East End of London in the 1920’s and started to carry a
camera around with him capturing daily life on the beat. A photograph of Mary Smith, a knocker-up, was
his first published photograph. John sold it for five pounds, the equivalent of a week’s wages to the Daily
Mirror newspaper and decided to become a freelance photographer. During the early part of the war

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Topham had a contract with Life Magazine as well as being a freelancer and he would regularly get calls
from national newspapers directing him to photograph areas of war damage or action.
His most famous image shows children watching the aerial fights in the Battle of Britain; the shot has
been used in a propaganda campaign, which helped to convince millions of Americans to join the war
against Germany. In 2009, the image was used to publicise ‘Outbreak’,a major Imperial War Museum
exhibition commemorating 70 years since the start of WWII.
The purpose of John Topham’s photography is to entertain the viewer and promote the impact war was
having on the public of England during the Second World War, in the hopes it would end the conflict.
His photos are very real and feelpersonal whilst they transport you to the scene. You can feel the
atmosphere and the characters of the people in the photo by looking at them, which is engaging and
entertaining for the audience. The shots perfectly capture humanity and everyday life. They show how
England coped and carried on during the war, which is remarkable to document in history.
Documentary photography is often used to expose societies evils and make positive change and as John’s
photos helped to sign up a large amount of soldiers in America who then helped the UK to win the war
and he entertained the nation through newspapers,Topham achieved a lot during his 50 year career as a
documentary photographer.
Both photographers have sold their photos to major newspapers and publications, as it is the best way to
have work shown to masses of people whilst earning a living. Showing photos in a gallery can be good to
show the public a selection of work that may not be appropriate to publish in a newspaper such as Mike
Kamber’s ‘Altered Images’. War photography can show the negative sides to events whilst documentary
photography can show the positive way people are dealing with situations and events. I don’t think one
type of photography is better than the other and I think they are both necessary to help tell history,
document historical events and accurately show people both sides to every story.
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