Photographs of war can be hellish.
They also can be poignant, exhilarating and thought-provoking. They can inspire you. They can move you, sometimes to tears.
Because they conjure such powerful emotions, war photographs, in particular, produce strong reactions from readers, many of them complaints.
About a dozen readers objected to Monday’s front-page photo of a little Iraqi girl in a white dress fleeing Basra.
Shirley Black of Akron said the photo should not have been used because it encourages war protests at a time when the military needs support.
“Today’s headline/picture should reflect pictures of our military men/women who are there to protect the people who have been governed by an evil/mean man, Hussein,” she wrote. “May the Beacon Journal use better judgment in selecting front-page photos.”
Other readers said a child’s fear was inappropriate for the front page.
One 82-year-old Akron woman said she has lived through many wars and she didn’t need to be reminded of its ugliness. “This photo just tears your heart out. Could you just calm it down with the photos?”
A Cuyahoga Falls reader said the nine women in her bridge club were discussing the photo when she decided to call. “You shouldn’t use children in situations like that. We all think it’s terrible.”
Several callers said they thought the Akron Beacon Journal was trying to elicit sympathy for Iraq and war opponents through its choice of photos.
That’s not the case. For a newspaper, each photo represents a new chapter in the story of this war, with the goal of showing all sides of the conflict, including death and grief.
Brenda Stadelman of Akron, who lived in England during World War II, called the photo sensationalism. “There are innocent people hurt by war. That’s a given. I’m not sure what you are trying to do with this photo.”
Some readers also were troubled by Tuesday’s photo of the grieving widow watching her husband’s flag-draped casket being unloaded from a military plane.
Beverly Graham of Cuyahoga Falls urged compassion.
“It is bad enough that we have lost some of our fighters in this war, but to put a large picture (or any picture) of a grieving wife as her husband’s casket is being brought off a plane is an absolute disgrace,” she wrote. “This woman deserves respect and privacy in her time of grief, not her picture splattered on the front page.”
Elinor Brown of Rittman returned from Florida and looked at a series of front pages. What she found appalled her.
“My impression was immediately that you are exploiting the horrors to an unprecedented and completely illogical extent…. For the sake of decency, please have a thought beyond the immediate shock value of your front pages.”
Like Brown, I decided to look back at the papers from the first 15 days of this war. As I flipped through the front pages, I was awed by the drama dominating those pages.
Soldiers in battle. Tanks in the desert. Flames on the Baghdad skyline. Heroes. Prisoners. Injuries. Death.
And children, the fear of innocents.
Shocking? Absolutely. These images leave a lasting impact that words struggle to achieve.
Past wars have produced powerful photos that defined and, in some cases, helped determine the course of those wars. Raising the flag at Iwo Jima. Liberating the camp at Buchenwald.
Do you remember from the first Gulf War the photo of two soldiers, one of them bandaged around the head and eyes, the other crying out?
The war photo I remember most vividly, though, is one of a Vietnamese girl fleeing in terror after a napalm attack in 1972. That photo influenced an entire generation.
Not all readers have objected to the recent front-page photos.
John Reed of Stow said he is haunted by the March 27 photo of the American soldier carrying an injured Iraqi boy.
“This is worth more than a thousand words. What thoughts are going through the mind of the boy? Fear, hurt and pain, confusion? He is clearly in shock, yet his eyes are fixed on a destination. The soldier clearly has a goal, a determination in his eyes. Focused on the objective. Get the boy to safety. He knows he will make it. The boy does not.
“The boy knows he is hurt. He is holding the right hand of the man that is carrying him, yet will not look at him. The man is a stranger, a foreigner, and cannot speak his language.
“The soldier is wearing a wedding band. Does he have a son or daughter? Is this an act of love for the son he may have? I would like to believe that he is motivated by a humanity that holds all innocent life precious.”
Like Reed, I found the photos of Iraqi children most compelling. When you can almost feel the heat of a child’s fear and the wet of her tears, hear the sound of her cries — as if you were holding your own child — then you know you have been moved by a great photo.
Immediately, the cacophony of war is reduced to a single, unforgettable image.
