I have a confession to make.

[likethebeer]

You know the Abu Ghraib photograph/video of the prisoner on the block?


I think it's beautiful. Maybe because it's a video and the graininess of it makes it seem as if he's wearing a multi-colored robe. The multi-colored robe makes me think of Joseph from the Bible and I find it an irony that a Muslim man is wearing a garment that connects to one of the deep stories of the Jewish faith. Additionally, the pointed hood that he wears is reminiscent of the ku klux klan. The fact that this man is being tortured, in part, due to his race reverses the meaning of the klan hat. What also attracts me to the photograph is the particular stance that he's in, his arms spread wide, the tendril wires leading away from his body. Even his fingers seem beautiful.

The way I've just described this image leads in part to the reason for my reaction: it looks like a work of art. It looks like a performance piece.

I find this reaction to be troubling, to say the least, and I confessed it to mda last week. "You're human," he said, "It's ok that you have a complex reaction to this image." Thanks. I do.

Comments

[sacramentalist.livejournal.com]

I understand where you're coming from. It's the combination of the Christ imagery, the KKK style hood, and the graininess. It's like something out of Blair Witch Project, or the alien in Signs. Very surreal. But then you realize there's a human being fearing for his life on that block, with wires on his fingertips and then I shudder.

Perhaps a photographer would be better suited to discuss it's cropping, but to me it seems well-shot. There's a slight angle to the floor so the lines aren't boring. And there's a little character on the wall. Perhaps military torturers shouldn't be such good photographers if they're dumb enough to actually take photographs.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, the Christ imagery too, I forgot. Thanks for understanding. I've been ashamed to admit that I'm attracted to the photograph. It's akin--akin I want to emphasize--to admitting that Leni Riefenstahl made beautiful movies in Nazi Germany. Well, more people are ok w/admitting that now, but I imagine were pretty troubled by that after WWII.

[mslilly.livejournal.com]

I agree with the point about the Christ imagery. The three straight lines coming down the wall behind him also contribute somehow.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even noticed those.

Now I'm getting creeped out--starting to think about what sacramentalist said.

[mslilly.livejournal.com]

I went back and counted. There are actually two sets of four pipes coming down. They create a tertiary effect because there's a cluster of four, brief wall space, then another cluster of four. Regardless, the picture does lend itself to artistic deconstruction regardless of the photographer's intent. It's well-composed, when you remove the horror lens.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I was commenting to my bf the other night that this picture is from a video, so someone chose this particular moment of the video, perhaps not consciously but perhaps because it just captured their eye. So there is a decision behind it.

[mslilly.livejournal.com]

Wow. I think that even in horrific moments - and regardless of education - we gravitate towards artistic expression.

[syphilis.livejournal.com]

I had the same reaction to it. If I had just seen it and noone told me it was a photo of an abused prisoner I would think it was a great piece of art.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

exactly.