Conflict, Time, Photography

[Mike Farley]

I went to see this exhibition at the Tate Modern yesterday, which is about the aftermath of conflict from just a few moments after something has occurred through to decades later. Apart from one image of someone about to throw a lit molotov cocktail, there are no shots of actual fighting. That does not mean that the exhibition makes for any less easy viewing, but it does demonstrate the power of photography.

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-mo ... hotography

[GrahamL]

Hi Mike,

I saw the exhibition on Saturday. The part I found most interesting was the large room containing 'Archive of Modern Conflict ' near the end; a rather eclectic but provoking mix of photos, newspaper cuttings and various other items. Didn't seem to really fit with the rest of the exhibition mind, but different....

Otherwise the exhibition had for me some very powerful photographs that were too diluted by the progressive time theme; showing various places after, some long after, the war/conflict concerned. I understand some photography was excluded from consideration has it was done by reporters, not 'photographers'. That might partly explain the absence of actual portrayal of conflict happening. I guess everybody's view is going to differ.

Worth seeing though, and a nice collection of photographic books in the bookshop close by that can be seen without viewing the exhibition.

Graham

[Mike Farley]

Hi Graham

Glad to know that you enjoyed the exhibition. I too wondered about the fit of the 'Archive of Modern Conflict ' exhbition within an exhibition, although I did not find it as interesting as you and did not spend much time there. Maybe next time I visit I will give it more attention.

I thought that the approach of not showing images of actual conflict, but rather the subsequent effects of events on an evolutionary basis was very thought provoking. One very obvious example was the section about the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, events so significant that they should remain forever etched in mankind's collective memory. That part of the show certainly gave me a fresh persepective about the Japanese viewpoint and encouraged me afterwards to research the subject further.