On 9/28/07, Bob Sullivan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Bill and Tom, > > What is a propaganda photo? > The flag raising at Iwo Jima was an inspirational moment by design. > It was a premature 'celebration' of victory, 2 days into a grim 30 day battle. > The flag was raised to inspire those fighting on the island below. > > The photo took on a propaganda aura based on how the media handled it, > the events themselves (a difficult battle), and the qualities of the > photo itself. The US government used the photo as the centerpiece of > a massive War Bond drive - the kind of promotional campaign that would > make Nike look like a lightweight in comparison today. (Imagine > financing Vietnam from 'donations' to War Bonds instead of deficit > spending!) > > Propaganda is a loaded word.
It may be a "loaded word", but IMHO, whether intended as propaganda or not (and as Rosenthal was there with the armed forces, it's hard to believe that he had no awareness that the photo could be used for "inspirational purposes"), in fact it was used to promote a cause (that of raising the war-weary spirits of Americans on the "home front" of WWII). It may have been a good cause, to be sure, but it was still propaganda. Good propaganda? I think so. But propaganda none-the-less... cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
