For much of the first part of David Campany’s essay; Safety In Numbness, he extols the virtues of the ‘presentness’ of moving images relating to an event, over the use of the ‘frozen’ image which is more readily used as a form of visual punctuation in television stories, stating ‘There is nothing like the ‘presentness’ of the moving image to emphasise the ‘pastness’ of the photograph.’ (Campany, 2003).
Aftermath photography has its roots within the earliest histories of the photographic medium. Roger Fenton and Ken Burns both recorded the scenes from the battlefields of The Crimea and The American Civil War respectively. Their unwieldy equipment and long exposure times predicated the construction of their images after the engagements of battle had subsided, which, in turn, led to a more artistic and aesthetic renditioning of the scenes. This measured, aesthetical approach has been adopted by a number of contemporary photographic practitioners such as the likes of Simon Norfolk, Paul Seawright, Donovan Wylie and David Burnett and their resulting bodies of work relate a more contemplative viewing experience.
The work of these photographers feels as if giving pushback against the fast-paced SLR/DSLR photojournalistic approach of the decades since the mid 1930’s and the chasing of the ‘bang bang’ – which presents the viewer with little or no interpretive responsibility and, although visually impactful, can become lost on the assimilate and move on generations. I’m not saying that these sorts of images are undervalued and less relevant, but I feel that there is room for both aesthetics in priming the memory of the viewer, with the hope of instigating change.
Returning to Campany’s thoughts on the sway of video over still imagery, and the beautification of war through the slower and more considered approach of aftermath photography – obviously, the moving image has great power; it’s in our homes on a daily basis, we consume it and then move on to the rest of our daily business, perhaps relating an opinion to a colleague the next day – but the deluge of daily broadcasts eventually eviscerates thoughts of an event, dulling our conscious. Photography on the other hand, has a greater potential to stop us in our tracks; to impregnate our minds with visceral thoughts, hopefully provoking a response deep within our own personal psychologies and the more contemplative approach of aftermath photography engages us on a deeper level of thought.
Bibliography
David Campany. (2019). Safety in Numbness: Some remarks on the problems of ‘Late Photography’ – David Campany. [online] Available at: https://davidcampany.com/safety-in-numbness/ [Accessed 23 Jul. 2019].
Davidburnett.com. (2019). Aftermath: David Burnett | Photographer. [online] Available at: https://www.davidburnett.com/gallery.html?gallery=Aftermath&folio=Galleries&vimeoUserID=&vimeoAlbumID=#/0 [Accessed 23 Jul. 2019].
Context and Narrative 