Whether embedded in Iraq, or traveling on a New York City subway, photographers are increasingly under pressure to put the camera away and shut up.  Our world has become less democratic, our Constitutional rights to free speech and a free press have dwindled.  I recall the outrage over Al-Jazeera’s airing of graphic images of deceased U.S. soldiers, and the persuant discussion about ethics.

How ethical is it to not allow the world to see the true devastation, the true impact of our invasion and occupation of Iraq?  If you saw the face of a small child screaming because her parents were just executed in front of her, would that have an impact on your complicity in this war?  What if you saw a fresh photo like this everyday?

I want to celebrate the journalists and publications who risk banishment for distributing and publishing photos that the world must see.  We cannot make informed decisions when the media does not tell the whole story.

Read more:

• Picturing Casulaties (NY Times Slideshow of War Wounded)
• 4,000 U.S. Deaths and a Handful of Images (NY Times)
• Zoriah Miller - disembedded freelance photojournalist

From Mother Jones photo essay, Unembedded in Iraq

BAGHDAD, September 12, 2004
A young Iraqi civilian lies dead in Haifa Street as a US armored personnel carrier burns in the background. Twenty-two Iraqi civilians were killed and forty-eight injured when US helicopters opened fire on crowds celebrating around the burning vehicle, which was disabled by an insurgent attack. No American soldiers were killed in the fighting. (Ghaith Abdul-Ahad)

How powerful an impact this photo has, without even considering the caption.  It gives a sense of experience, of time and place.

These photographers are real change agents.  Traveling into Mahdi Army strongholds with no guides or US/Iraqi protection, they broke a deadly silence.  Their photos have also provoked my interest in this September 2004 massacre of Iraqi citizens by American forces.  Sad to say, but this style of mass-murder, conducted and facilitated by our elected officials, continues today.

The Mother Jones photo essays are a great resource. I particularly liked The Hidden Half, The Dying Newsroom and Phone Sex Operators.  I hope we can continue to support photojournalists, who remain critical to an informed citizenry.