PAN reader, independent curator of photography, Hilary Roberts has authored a new book called ‘The Camera at War: 170 Years of Weaponizing Photography’ it’s an overview of the art and application of photomanipulation in conflict photography from the Crimean War to the present day.
About: ‘It is said that the first casualty of war is truth. But in the arena of war photography, the truth is never simple. Drawing on an incredible archive of historic and contemporary imagery from the Imperial War Museums’ vast collection and other major archives around the globe, distinguished curator Hilary Roberts presents a new perspective on the role of image manipulation in this field over the past 170 years, exploring the consequences for our understanding of historic and contemporary conflicts. From the staged scenes and hand-coloured Daguerreotypes of the Crimean War at the very beginning of conflict photography to the Al-generated protest and propaganda imagery of today, Roberts explores the myriad ways in which layers of meaning can be added, erased or changed completely. As The Camera at War so powerfully reveals, sometimes this has been done in order to present a closer approximation of the truth, and sometimes for the causes of national morale, subterfuge and control of the winning narrative. With the current wars in Gaza and Ukraine, conflict is on the public’s mind now more than ever.’
The book is published in partnership with the Imperial War Museums and is available now in English and French here. (The English-language edition is published by Ilex Press in collaboration with Imperial War Museums.)