Violence and visibility: Historical and theoretical perspectives

Abstract

In early 2004, the world was shocked by the publication of photographs showing the abuse of Iraqi detainees by American guards in the prison of Abu Ghraib. Many pictures presented perpetrators grinning into the camera while standing proudly next to their victims who had been forced to undress and pose in humiliating positions. As the photographs indicate, the act of picture taking itself was part of the violence against the prisoners in Abu Ghraib. Using their private digital cameras, the guards took hundreds of pictures from various angles, depicting the willful degradation of the prisoners and posing for the camera with their victims. The images were saved on private laptops, were shared with colleagues and friends inside and outside of the Abu Ghraib prison complex, and served as visual trophies of their participation at the war. Quite obviously, the private production and dissemination of these pictures sought to generate pleasure on part of their viewers, also by visibly underscoring claims of white superiority and “oriental” inferiority. However, when American news magazines and TV channels published these images in April 2004, the majority of the readers and viewers expressed a sense of shock. Following their publication, the criticism of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” intensified immensely, not the least due to the severe violations of human rights that had been exposed by the images.