| This dissertation examines the influence of technology, politics (propaganda and censorship), and journalistic conventions on how Americans have viewed images of war through history. It focuses on one image each from three different wars: the Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War. Each image is a black-and-white still photograph, but the nature of each changed from war to war. The Civil War image, taken by Alexander Gardner at Antietam, could not be published because the communication technology was unavailable, but it was possible for people to view it at a studio and in albums. The World War II image, shot by George Strock, is much like Gardner's, but it appeared in Life magazine, a publication that reached a mass audience, but not until the U.S. government released it nearly a year after it was taken. The Vietnam War image was relayed around the world by the Associated Press on the same day it was taken by Eddie Adams and, unlike the other two images, didn't show American soldiers. The goal of this study is to help the American public better understand why and how war is presented as it is through visual images. |
