Beware the Cost of War

“To an Israeli Jew, a photograph of a child torn apart in the attack on the Sbarro pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem is first of all a photograph of a Jewish child killed by a Palestinian suicide-bomber. To the Palestinian, a photograph of a child torn apart by a tank round in Gaza is first of all a photograph of a Palestinian child killed by Israeli ordnance. To the militant, identity is everything and all images wait to be explained and falsified by their captions”
Susan Sontag

First I must warn you that this exhibition includes some “graphic images”. These are images that were not composed to conceal the results of violence. I urge you not to recoil and ask you to study these images. Try to conjure them up whenever you see a newspaper headline reporting deaths or injuries. Even if it is demoted to the back pages because too small a number of people were affected, or happened too far away.

What has been concealed in this essay are the captions. They are located every dozen or so images. This is to challenge you to face the horrible reality of conflict without immediately consulting the caption to make sure it was the other side that was the perpetrator. Alongside the images appear testimonies gathered from Israeli and Palestinian survivors, which chain the images to the context of loss.

These images are mostly used to illustrate, to make a point. To show “what they did”.
They are presented as extreme and demonic instances of cruelty. Is it possible that the fault lies not just in the unreasonable behaviour of any side but in conflict itself?

The photographers in this exhibition are some of the best in the world.
Uriel Sinai and Amit Shabi have been awarded in the World Press photography competition, Jafar Ishtyeh and Mahmud Hams have won the Prix Bayeux war photography prize and all of the other photographers have received various awards and accolades.

This exhibition would not have been possible without their generosity and their help in suggesting and recruiting the other photographers – even ones from “the other side.”

Yoav Galai

Exhibit Informtion

73 Leonard Street
London
EC2A 4QS

11-7pm October 23rd-29th

Panel discussion chaired by Jon Snow featuring Uriel Sinai, Yoav Galai, Abid Katib and Jafar Ishtayeh on Monday, October 26th, registration at info@bewarethecostofwar.org

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave comments