Reading war photographs: the 1971 India–Pakistan war in the Anglo-American press. (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mokhtar, Shehram
• Is Part Of: Visual communication. Volume 19:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 121
• Page End: 141
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Anglo-American press -- archive -- Bangladesh -- history -- India -- liberation war -- Pakistan -- photojournalism -- war photography; Visual communication -- Periodicals; Popular culture -- Periodicals; Art and society -- Periodicals; 302.222
• DOI: 10.1177/1470357219838602
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-3572

Abstract

This article examines photographs of the 1971 India–Pakistan war published in the Anglo-American newspapers: The New York Times and The Times (London) and magazines: Life, Newsweek, Time, and The Economist . The images projected the war as a spectacle and predominantly used photographic conventions associated with non-journalistic images. The photographs showcased a rather frank representation of the 1971 war, displaying images of failed military operations, dead or injured soldiers, POWs, and revenge killings. However, some of these candid documentary war photographs offer archival value in that they challenge and complicate historical amnesia and partial accounts of the war and conflict in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.