A picture paints a thousand words
Good-hearted Americans protested the war yesterday, March 19th, the last day of winter and the 5th-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. Our friend sconsetmonkey was there to document it.
The first photo shows a woman caring for the soldiers who have fallen and the police arresting the protesters. The second photo shows who cares for our soldiers once the state takes away those who protest—a stark reminder of how important it is to voice our progressive concerns.
Are you sure?
Maybe we just think that’s what it shows.
Maybe what the first photo shows is a woman knelling by an empty box draped by a flag blocking traffic on a rainy day. We can see she is blocking cars and trucks. Cars and trucks which polls tell us are mostly occupied by people who agree the war was a mistake and we need to get out of Iraq.
Maybe what it really shows is the police arresting a man who is also blocking the cars driven mostly by people who agree with him.
We can’t tell from the photos, but if that’s correct, it’s as if the man and woman are screwing with the people who agree with them.
Maybe what the second photo shows is simply debris left in the street by the man and woman who think that whatever it is they had to do was more important than whatever anyone else had to do.
Maybe someone in that line was on the way to a hospice for their last visit with a dying friend. Maybe there was a single-mother who had to work late and was rushing to get to the baby-sitter’s, who then charged her extra for being late in arriving from her minimum wage job.
We can’t tell. It’s only a photo.
But what if that were right? Then it would seem the man and woman are pretty self-absorbed. Maybe they never thought of it that way.
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What we can see is that there are no soldiers in the photos.
The woman is not taking care of their needs. It’s just pretend.
Maybe the woman was really taking care of her own needs. Maybe she and the man felt better about themselves afterward. Maybe they felt they did something heroic.
Maybe it’s street therapy.
Maybe that single mom is out another ten bucks.
But we can’t say for sure.
It’s only a photo.
It’s called ’symbolism.’
Silence is complicity and that single mom might be happy that her child may not be sent to war in a few years because protesters voiced their concerns to end this war. If we stay in Iraq 100 years (as McCain has suggested is possible) then who do you think will fight the war?
Sure, maybe the protest caused some discomfort for those in America, but the reality of war is causing needless death on a large scale on a daily basis in Iraq.
And by the way, it’s not “only a photo,” it is art, it is a voice for those who are in Iraq fighting, who cannot be here to speak for themselves.
Symbolism? Hmmm. I’ve heard of it.
And when the administration tells us its the symbolism of having democracy in a middle east country [aside from Israel] that is important we howl.
And we say it’s important to deal in reality.
And the best way to do this is through symbolism.
Got it, thanks.
This is a symbol that reminds people of the reality the media ignores.
The same administration that has lied repeatedly to it’s “own” American people about the reasons and justification for having the “symbolism” in the first place?
Get real.
Publius, just so I’m clear as to your point, are you supporting the risking of American soldiers’ lives, actual lives, for the symbolism of democracy in the Middle East? Surely that is not what you’re suggesting.
Not at all. But some do, and no one can know for sure because that would require the ability to see years into the future.
Both sides are guessing.
However, the post expressed a certain opinion when infact there are two ways to look at these photos.
And that depends upon perspective. Some may see these people as heroic figures speaking truth to power.
Someone else may say “Get real” and see them as myopic self-absorbed individuals.
It’s not a class on social psychoanalytical behaviors for crying out loud.
BS (Bullsh*t)
MS (More sh*t)
PhD (Piled High, Deep)
Now come and pick up your diploma.
GA,two questions.
First, what part was supposed to be art? The photos or the street theater?
Second, since neither of us can see into the future, is it possible that with a dedicated effort in five or ten years a stable democracy could be established in Iraq?
And that it could be a beacon to the opressed peoples in the surrounding countries? And that within fifty years the tryrannical theocracies that exist in Suadi Arabia, Syria, and Iran would be replaced by democracies where woman get to vote and gay people are no longer hung in public executions.
Is that possible?
In my mind the photography is art of the utmost quality. The images sear into me. Sconsetmonkey is the penultimate photographer in my view and we’re lucky to have access to sconset’s work.
I do not consider the protests “street theater” or art. I consider them passionate defense of progressive values of peace instead of pre-emptive wars that have taken needlessly the lives of so many of our soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians.
If you want to see theater, go watch Maggie Brooks espouse what is “FAIR.”
And to answer your second question about establishing a stable democracy, Bush said before he stole the first election that “America is not in the business of nation-building.” Well, I’ll put this in terms Bush can understand: Liar, liar, pants on fire.
What our soldiers are doing over there is what is asked of them, and they’re doing it with courage and they’re doing it valiantly. I love our soldiers so much. I love them so much that I despise that Bush has risked their precious lives so needlessly and without forethought. 4,000 families have gotten that visit from the military telling them that Bush’s nation-building has stolen their loved ones from them forever. Bush was AWOL when it was his turn to serve and now his heart and mind are AWOL. Sending them to war without an exit strategy or without enough armor is dereliction of duty on Bush’s part. His only defense of such a charge is ineptitude.
If you want to talk “beacons” I’ll talk beacons. A beacon to the oppressed peoples around the world would be goodwill, not war.
By the way, under the previous Iraqi government (while there were atrocities for certain) it was a secular country and women did have more rights than they are likely to have now that the lunatic fringe have invaded from Al-Qaeda.
Bush’s pre-emptive war has bred a new generation of those who hate us. He took the goodwill that the world felt toward us and squandered it in his war in Iraq. If he’d focused solely on Afghanistan then we could have been that beacon you wish for. Now I see a quagmire and the majority of Americans do as well.
Publius: Is it possible that you have no idea how much 3.5 trillion dollars is and what its expenditure on foreign soil does to the American economy? Is that possible? Is it possible that you’ve never considered the effect of having our military tied down in Iraq for the next 50 years might have on our ability to deal with conflicts elsewhere in the world? Is that possible? Is it possible that you have never considered the effect the war has had on our prestige abroad? Is that possible? Is it possible that you didn’t notice that there were no WMD? Is that possible? Is it possible that you don’t know which countries are Shiite and which are Sunni? Is that possible?
I’m just asking if this is possible? Do you think it’s possible?
Getting back on topic here -
We need to stay away from the hyperbole that is being used in this comment thread. It isn’t about what is possible, it is about what is desired.
The thrust of argument in the comments is the “value” of these protests. The discussion is about the pictures and blocking traffic. It is about two different perspectives.
One person’s protest is another’s person’s sedition. Now I’m NOT putting words in anyone’s mouth here but saying that that it is perspective. As Publius said earlier….
The issue is - is it worth it. “It” being Iraq. In terms of cost - lives and treasure.
I don’t think Iraq is worth the cost. I don’t think so 5 years ago. I still don’t.
The question is do these pictures or protests drive that message home.
Individually as stand alone pictures - no they don’t. As part of movement or national discussion - they contribute to pointing out that that Iraq is not worth it.
Are they equally as powerful as say electing local candidates (Massa, Powers and Maffei immediately come to mind) who will reduce our footprint in Iraq sooner rather than later.
No, the pictures and protests are not as powerful as electing Candidates who will do something about it.
First let me say thank you to all for a lively discussion either about the photographs or “it” as stlo7 has described. Quite a read I must say.
A photograph is a document of what is presented before the camera, a representation of light. It is my role as The Decider as to what light I choose to present to the viewer at the time the shutter is pressed. Symbolism is given by an individual or en masse all the while the photograph remains what it is, a representation. The root of symbolism can, in postmodernity, derive from a re-representation of a collective notion of value or that of distain for the imagery presented.
That value we speak of collectively gathers its sum from a pinch purse of visual cues that have been deposited and saved in our own personal banks. We withdraw these cues and apply them to our own investments and with any luck gain interest.
It’s only a photo.
You are very correct, indeed. But please consider the value placed upon photographs: intellectual, cultural, spiritual, sentimental, monetary etc. We have been through constant bombardment of images to accept this representation as the real thing. Take for instance the person that removes from their wallet a photograph and proclaims, “This is my son.” Never have I heard a person corrected by a viewer with the phrase It’s only a photo.
However it is representation of symbolism that defines our meaning. I have observed our Flag, and its symbolism, in very different values in the past few weeks. From the utmost care while being removed from Kevin Mowl’s casket, to the RPD officer that wadded it up an dropped it to the ground to the bystander that retrieved it and displayed it in a state of distress.
Do I have an opinion about “it”, Iraq. Of course I do. Do I have an opinion about lilacs. No. That’s why I don’t photograph them. I mention this only to illustrate the overlooked hyperbole of intent. It is my intent that is overlooked and the symbolism given to my photographs by viewers that has lead two political polar opposite organizations to request use my images. One a local grassroots organization and the other a large national publication. My intent has omitted the latter as the seductive monetary value is superseded by some of the aforementioned values .
I can only chuckle as I recall the news vans racing to the scene after the arrests had taken place. I wonder if they too along with myself would have been threatened with arrest had they been there.
Its only a photo, officer.
Given the conversation at hand both political and photographic, a Candidate should remain a representation of the people and not the almighty symbol we have become accustomed too.
“All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”
-Richard Avedon