Icons of War Photography

There are certain images of war that are horrific, frightening and at the same time, due to an outstanding compositional structure, they are fascinating and do not allow its observers to keep their distance. This publication examines three images of war that have often been described as icons of war photography. The images “children fleeing a napalm strike” by Nick Ut, “the falling soldier” by Robert Capa and Sam Nzima''s photograph of Hector Pieterson are historical reference images that came to represent the wars and conflicts in which they were taken. A number of different factors have an impact on a war photograph''s awareness level and its potential to commit itself to what is referred to as collective consciousness. Such factors are the aesthetical composition and outstanding formal elements in connection with the exact moment the photograph was taken, ethical implications or the forcefulness of the event itself. The empirical study in this book, questioning 660 students from Spain, South Africa and Vietnam about their awareness level regarding the three photographs suggests that they are icons of war photography that have been anchored in collective memory.