Abstract
As the author of Conversations on Conflict Photography Lauren Walsh points out, ‘We do live in an age of images, some say an age of image saturation. Photography, of course, isn’t the sole visual medium of today’s image culture. But it is a dominant one’. She focuses on conflict photography in her book but defines the word conflict in a very broad way to include not just war images, but crisis photography more broadly. The aim is to give voice to the practitioners involved in the process of making imagery – photographers, editors and directors by interviewing them. The ambition of the author is to reference ‘the state of the world through late 2018’ (p. xiv). The book is divided into three sections, echoing three broad categories of practitioners in this industry: (1) interviews with photographers; (2) interviews with photo editors and directors of photography at traditional news outlets and agencies; (3) interviews with directors and a senior editor who have worked extensively with photography for human rights and humanitarian organizations. (p. xv)
Walsh argues that human rights and humanitarian organisations ‘now play a leading role in funding photographers who cover crisis’ (p. xv). This is not a conventional academic book but one offering a series of Q&As with 12 photographers, 4 editors and 3 representatives from Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and UNICEF. In addition to the interviews, each of the three sections starts with an essay ‘highlighting the major themes and debates that arise in the conversations’ (p. xv). All in all, the book provides useful insights into contemporary conflict photography.