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1 - A Short Summary of a Long History of Graphic Witnessing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2023

Alexa Koenig  and
Andrea Lampros
Alexa Koenig
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Andrea Lampros
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
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Summary

This chapter outlines the history of graphic visual content and its ability to advance social and human rights. The authors trace a path from 1863 and the United States’ civil war, when photos of beaten slaves were used to advance abolitionist causes, to contemporary images of atrocity in Ukraine, now being used to rally condemnation against Russian aggression. The chapter also discusses the social significance of other seminal, historical imagery, including videos of the beating of George Floyd and Rodney King, photos and videos of John F. Kennedy’s killing, photos from the Holocaust and the Vietnam War, images that documented the beating and killing of Emmet Till, and iconic photographs from 9/11 and the War on Terror. A discussion of the qualitative and quantitative similarities and differences between historic images and digital images shared online today follows the description of these photos and their role in advancing social change.

Keywords

human rightswar crimesopen-source investigationsopen-source informationuser-generated contentmediasocial mediaOSINTjournalismactivismcivil rightssocial change
Type
Chapter
Information
Graphic
Trauma and Meaning in Our Online Lives
 , pp. 18 - 37
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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