Witness: Know War/Know Genocide

The George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., is hosting several exhibitions and programs on war and genocide, entitled Witness: Know War/Know Genocide. The traveling DARFUR/DARFUR slideshow, previously mentioned on UUSC’s blog, is making a stop there. Also on view, “Know War,” which contains works from the Eastman House’s collections, which feature one of the earliest images of war and continues through to the present day. The website contains a great overview of the situation in Darfur, with the resource “Know More”.

Dr. Alison Nordström, Eastman House’s curator of photographs, says “Almost since its invention, the camera has been used to record the most difficult aspects of the human condition: war and its aftermath, genocide, and famine."

The camera and other modern technologies have made commonplace and accessible images of war and genocide. Conflicts and atrocities happening in one part of the world would not have reached the consciousness of individuals a continent away in centuries past. As these exhibits demonstrate, the photograph has the unique power to make us witnesses to global events. And once we have seen them with our own eyes, it is impossible to deny what is happening.

Hearing about the mass killings, bombing and raping, and displacement of Darfurians into refugee camps is one thing; seeing for yourself it is most certainly another. The photographs help those of us who are not physically in the midst of such a conflict to “know” what war and genocide look like. The faces we see challenge us to not look away.

Modern globalization no longer allows us to claim ignorance. We have the choice before us to respond or to not respond. And cameras and technology will be there to document the result of our choice as well.