Children suffer and die when there is war, when disasters come crashing down. It’s almost unbearable to think about. At the same time, it creates demanding choices for the photographers in the areas where it happens, and for the editors who will bring their images out to the public. All the while there is an ethical see-saw that moves back and forth. On the one hand, the press must inform about what is happening. On the other hand, they must protect the most vulnerable, and not expose them in a way that could be harmful to them. It’s not easy. But now World Press Photo, the influential institution that organizes an annual competition for press photographs, has decided to let one end of the seesaw weigh heaviest. LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Photographer Jevgenij Maloletka presents his own famous image of a pregnant woman being carried away from the bombed-out hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. The photo earned him the prize for picture of the year at the World Press Photo award ceremony. Photo: Peter Dejong / AP They will now go through their archive, which consists of award-winning images from some of the most important events in the world over seven decades. Then they must remove all images of children who are undressed, recognizable, and who have not given consent to be photographed. The images will not be deleted. But you will only get access if you are going to use them for research, and submit an application that will be approved. This type of general de-publication is very unusual. The motives for doing so are easy to understand. It can be burdensome, both for children and for the adults they become, that there are images of them freely available in vulnerable situations. Maybe they were desperate and scared. It is also easy to imagine that such images can be misused and manipulated. MORE AWARDS: The image of a protester against President Maduro in Venezuela, who was set on fire during clashes with the police, won several awards at the World Press Photo ceremony in 2018. Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP But the fact that it is easy to understand makes not necessarily correct. Press photographs are our collective memory. When the camera clicks, it’s not just because something will be published in a week or a month. It is for what happens to be preserved for future generations. Then it is not only important that the photographs exist, but also that we can see them. There are terrible conflicts in the world today. In each of them, parties work hard to tell a story in which they themselves are the victims, who had no choice but to resort to arms, and it is the opponent who is the aggressor. They attempt to shape both the past and the present to their advantage. They do this with varying degrees of weight and reasonableness. But the public depends on being able to put all these stories in perspective, to meet them with knowledge. Then images of the war’s victims, of the war’s colossal costs, are necessary. CELEBERT: Many big names are included in World Press Photo’s exhibitions. Here, Dutch Queen Maxima is present at one of the foundation’s exhibitions in Athens. Photo: AP This does not of course mean that it is free to exhibit children and other civilians who are in the most difficult situations of their lives. news, for example, is very careful about this. But that means withdrawing these images from the public eye can come at a high price. One of the images in the World Press Photo archive is the famous photo of undressed and half-naked children fleeing the napalm bombing of South Vietnam, taken by photographer Nick Ut. The naked, howling girl in the middle of the picture is nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phúc. She later stated that although she initially disliked the image, she later saw it as important, something she is proud to be a part of. This statement is why World Press Photo is allowing the image to remain publicly available. ALLOWED TO STAY: Nick Ut’s photo of the so-called “Napalm Girl”, nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phùc, remains publicly available because the protagonist herself has said that she thinks the photo is important. Photo: Nick Ut / AP They also say that they make an effort to obtain permission from those in the photos where possible. This is commendable, but it is highly uncertain whether children from old photos can be found. Is this a good enough reason for the documentation of what happened to them to be hidden behind an archival veil? The dilemmas facing the Amsterdam-based organization are not simple. But also in other ways, today’s management seems eager for revision in a way that is a little disturbing. In the article where they talk about the new approach to pictures of children, they also write that they have a responsibility to reevaluate their collection at all times. That they must recognize that the selection of photographs is subjective, and characterized by a world view that is “cis, male, white, western”, and a perspective that is characterized by “the industry’s patriarchal structure”. They promise to “recontextualize the content” in the future. UNUSUAL EVERYDAY LIFE: This image of a block in Pyongyang, North Korea, won the award for single images in the “Daily Life” category in 2012. The photographer was Bosnian Damir Sagolj. Photo: Damir Sagolj / Ap What this means in practice is difficult to say. But everything people do, everything that is based on discretion and taste, is to some extent subjective. It is not possible to escape from that, not even for today’s critical viewers. It does not seem reasonable to judge the images of the past on this basis. Furthermore, it is possible to argue that it is more important that painful and significant events are documented, than that the photographers who do so have the correct identity. Most of the people who traveled to war zones on behalf of the Western media were white men. It is of course perfectly fine to point out where this affiliation seems to have created blind spots for them. It is also appropriate to ask questions when images of great pain become excessively beautiful and well-composed, as some of the most famous images are. Does the terrible have to have an element of beauty to reach? ALSO NATURE: The World Press Photo awards are awarded in a number of categories, including nature. This photo of emperor penguins, taken by Paul Nicklen for National Geographic, won first prize for natural history in 2013. Photo: Paul Nicklen / Ap But it is not possible to create a new past, where the photography industry was more diverse and inclusive. Those who left were those who left. Many of them risked their lives. Many of them had significant mental burdens to bear from this work. They managed great power, and all power must be scrutinized with a critical eye. But without them, even more of the crimes of the past would remain in the dark.
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The crimes of the past should be visible to everyone – Speech
