[SarahM72]

This is possibly the most horrific photo I have ever seen in my life. No one can look at this photo and not weep. If you haven't seen it yet be warned it contains terrible images of deceased children if you decide to google it.

I looked at it and wondered if it needed to be published, or is it just too horrific? It is up there with the photo of Phan Thị Kim Phúc in its horrific nature.

It is a terrible terrible photo and just devastating. What is the value of seeing this, or should we all know what is happening in such graphic detail so we really have a grasp of what is actually happening? And should it win such a prize?

I don't know. I am glad for war correspondants and investigative journalist, especially those like Jo Frost, Anna Politkovskaya and of course John Pilger, without whom so may things would never be known and nothing would change. Perhaps we need to know and see these details to get outraged enough to do something. But my God, just so terrible to bear knowing about these things sometimes, when what can you do as an individual?

This photo has really affected me badly, I am shaking.

This post has been edited by SarahM72: 18/04/2012, 12:07 PM

[BadCat]

I'm in two minds about photos like this.

On the one hand I do think they serve the purpose of bringing home the atrocities that people live with and opening our eyes to the world.

On the other hand I think there is a voyeuristic side to these sorts of images that is unhealthy.

As to whether it should win a prize? Yes, I think that's entirely valid.

This post has been edited by BadCat: 18/04/2012, 12:19 PM

[futureself]

It is a terrible terrible photo and just devastating. What is the value of seeing this, or should we all know what is happening in such graphic detail so we really have a grasp of what is actually happening? And should it win such a prize?

Yes, it is devastating, it is horrific, and it should upset the viewer. It is also extraordinary. The courage and ability of photojournalists to bring such images to 'our' world should definitely be acknowledged with such a prize - the alternative is censorship of actual events because we deem some folks to 'precious' to be upset by them. The fact that you do compare it to Phan Thị Kim Phúc simply proves this point of their power, the ability to stay with us and perhaps teach us.
I am *glad* of such amazing people, such images. I deserve to know what the 30 second news story really means and there is no better way than 'seeing' it for myself. No matter how much that pains me.

[steppy]

I'm on the side of publishing. It's too easy to pretend this doesn't happen.

[MakeLoveNotBacon]

I think they should come with a warning, which I don't think any of the main news websites have done.

The photo is very disturbing but I think it should be published. Sometimes we need to see an imagine to make it real.

[~Karla~]

I think a lot of the time, we need to see something so confronting to really jolt us. It's too easy to sit here, on the other side of the world, and "forget" that they are real people, real children that are suffering in the news articles we read and watch on tv. It's horrifying, but it's really happening and I think we need to see photos like this in order for it to hit home.

I also think it deserved to win. Not only for what the photo stands for, but the actual photography is really quite good considering the circumstances.

I do agree about the voyeuristic element too. But I think the benefits of a photo like this outweigh those negatives.

[steppy]

On the voyeuristic aspect, I feel the photographer, the image and the other viewers are not responsible for how some people might view this image. Pre-photography, pre-television, people liked to go out to a good hanging or maybe even a drawing and quartering or a stoning.

[Fluster]

Yes.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a nightmare of a photo of an injured marine - I think from Iraq, I clicked away pretty quickly, it was extremely graphic. Until I saw it, I'd really just forgotten about Iraq... all wars, really, I just got caught up in my own little world.

Words are easily forgotten, and I can tune out the news like you wouldn't believe, but one image made me stop, look at my selfishness, the awful way I can speak to and treat people, and social injustices, and take the time to address my faults. You can't necessarily stop a war, but being confronted with human suffering really makes me think about the things, and attitudes, I can change.

[ScrumptiousHobbi...]

Yes it is a distressing photo, but without photos of these things when they happen it just makes it easier for people to deny they ever happened.

[naards]

I'm on the side of publishing. It's too easy to pretend this doesn't happen.

Absolutely agree. I am very shaken by it too but it is truly a representation of what is happening and I think it is important for people to recognise it. So so sad!!!