1. Theoretical Background: Susan Sontag on War Photography #
In Regarding the Pain of Others (2003), Susan Sontag provides a profound critique of war photography. Her key points include:
- Images do not automatically produce anti-war sentiment or moral action
- Repeated exposure to suffering can lead to emotional desensitization and visual fatigue
- Photography can reveal reality but may also turn suffering into a consumable spectacle
- The ethics of war photography involve not only whether an image should be taken, but also how it is viewed and used
Sontag does not dismiss the value of war photography, but she emphasizes the need for viewers to critically reflect on the act of looking.
2. Case Introduction: Why AP’s Ukraine Coverage #
The Associated Press photo team’s coverage of the early weeks of the Ukraine war received the Breaking News Photography Award. The series documents:
- The destruction of Mariupol before media agencies withdrew
- Civilian victims of attacks on infrastructure
- The resilience of Ukrainians fleeing conflict
In an era of saturated war imagery and contested authenticity, this series provides an ideal case for examining Sontag’s concerns:
How can these images remain meaningful given the ethical risks inherent in “viewing the suffering of others”?
3. Visual Analysis: Pregnant Woman on a Stretcher #
In one striking image, the photographer focuses on a wounded pregnant woman lying on a red stretcher, making her the absolute center of the frame. Key visual elements include:
- Red stretcher: evokes blood and danger, creating a strong contrast against the gray-brown ruins and forcing viewers to confront a life at the threshold of survival
- Background environment: smoke, dead trees, and rubble construct a dehumanized war space, situating the event in a battlefield context and emphasizing the complete disruption of everyday life
- Internal tension: the rescue team (agents of “life”) versus the pregnant woman (life suspended between survival and death) symbolize the conflict between human life and war structures
The impending birth creates strong narrative tension. Pregnancy typically represents hope and continuity, but in this war context, the symbolism is inverted: the newborn is already deceased at birth, and the mother dies soon after. Birth, normally pointing to the future, becomes a terminal moment. The duality of “constraint / release” reflects an ethical paradox imposed by war, not constructed by the photographer.
Correspondence with Sontag’s theory:
- The image positions the viewer in an unavoidable moral space, confronting suffering directly
- The suspended state challenges the inertia of “viewing as consumption”
- Through a concrete human body and everyday environment, the photograph enables understanding of war’s real impact beyond shock
4. Analysis 1: Against the Logic of Shock – Countering Visual Desensitization #
Sontag’s Insight #
“The shock of photographs wears off.”
—Susan Sontag
Sontag argues that relying solely on shocking images cannot sustain comprehension or action.
Case Analysis #
AP’s images do not seek extreme gore or dramatic “decisive moments,” but repeatedly present:
- Injured but surviving bodies
- Interrupted daily routines
- Evacuation, waiting, and liminality
The pregnant woman on the stretcher exemplifies sustained tension: the shock derives not from gore but from the suspension of life against the devastated environment.
5. Analysis 2: Rejecting the Aestheticization of Suffering #
Sontag’s Warning #
Once suffering is aestheticized, viewing easily slides into consumption.
Case Analysis #
The image exhibits anti-aesthetic qualities:
- Imperfect composition
- Harsh lighting
- Cropped or partially obscured elements
The photographer deliberately avoids:
- Monumentalizing ruins
- Symbolizing victims
- Creating “iconic” compositions
The image cannot be passively “appreciated”; it must be confronted.
6. Analysis 3: Human Scale vs. Abstract War #
Sontag’s Observation #
War images often let viewers “know” that war exists but rarely help them understand its effects.
Case Analysis #
The series maintains a human scale:
- Civilian spaces: hospitals, homes, shelters
- Non-combatants: pregnant women, children, families
- Everyday actions: waiting, caregiving, fleeing
The pregnant woman on the stretcher especially highlights the conflict between life and war structures, turning abstract war into concrete human experience.
7. Analysis 4: Viewer Position and Responsibility #
Sontag’s Ethical Challenge #
Sontag repeatedly asks:
Are we truly innocent when we view the suffering of others?
Case Analysis #
The images do not offer hero narratives or moral closure. Viewers are forced into:
- Inability to save
- Inability to ignore
- Inability to satisfy moral duty through mere sympathy
The stretcher image intensifies this ethical tension: the viewer becomes a witness, ethically engaged yet unable to intervene.
8. Classroom Discussion Questions #
- Does the stretcher image effectively avoid the “consumption of suffering” Sontag critiques?
- How might the ethical significance of these images change when widely shared on social media?
- In an era of manipulated images and information warfare, does anti-aesthetic presentation still equate to truth?
- Does viewing war photography imply a form of responsibility? If so, what is it?
9. Case Summary #
From Sontag’s perspective, the AP Ukraine coverage resists visual desensitization and the commodification of suffering through restraint, anti-aesthetic presentation, and human-scale imagery. Images like the pregnant woman on a stretcher place viewers in ethically tense positions: witnessing the suffering of others is itself a moral act requiring ongoing reflection.
10. References #
- Sontag, Susan. 2003. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Associated Press. 2023. “AP Photo Team Wins Breaking News Photography Award for Coverage of Ukraine War.” AP News. https://apnews.com/
Last modified on 2023-06-14