Conveying Atrocity in image

Albert Rayle
Ms. Hara
10/29/07
Conveying Atrocity in image

This article on the use of imagery was an extremely depressing one. It was all about how people used pictures to depict the terrible crimes that were performed in concentration camps. We have all seen the photos that were captured during this time and they still hurt to look at no matter how many times you have seen them. The picture of the starved prisoners staring at the camera man makes me cringe every time I see it.
This article did not only show a couple of the pictures that it was describing but it also told us what it took to take one of these strong images. It said that to get a good image the photographer had to have good placement, number, and gaze. The placement is where the central image is located in the picture and what is around it. The author showed the reader a picture of a bunch of dead corpses and General Eisenhower standing there looking at them. The number is simply the number of people inside the picture. The author stated that group images tended to be less graphic because you could not focus in on one person’s pain or suffering. And the last one was gaze. Gaze was simply the way the subject in the photographs stared. It sounds like a simple thing but the stare of any survivor of the Holocaust is enough to make most people want to cry.
The Holocaust is one of the worst periods in modern history. I can not believe that people were that mean to each other and that inhumane. I am thankful though that these images were taken because they help remind us of the past and that we should never let anything like that happen again.