Studio Trafo
War photography and its personalities are still an attractive theme in visual culture. However, with the turn of the millennium, a new phenomenon of “war porn” has appeared, bringing images of death and violence that are no longer made by professional photo journalists but by the very actors of war conflicts as materials documenting their strength.
Can one blame the soldiers for documenting and spreading their inhuman behavior, considering all the physical and mental pressure put upon them as unambiguously proved by numerous social experiments? Or should one blame the recipients of the messages who have enthusiastically welcomed and supported the spreading of these images from the quiet rooms of their homes? Where are the boundaries and controversies of perception in contemporary visual culture?
FILIP LÁB, photojournalism theorist
ALŽBĚTA JUNGROVÁ, photographer
PAVEL KLUSÁK, journalist
