Respond to the work of Horst Faas

1360 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of war photographer

In this essay I am going to respond the work of Horst Faas, a German photojournalist who was most famous for his documentary photography during the Vietnam War (1956-1975). Horst Faas captured these images by being in the middle of the action and following troops and Vietnamese civilians who where caught in the middle of all the conflict. His photography has shown the rest of the world the horror, fear and bravery from civilians and soldiers who lived through this traumatic time. I feel the images Horst Faas captured each tells a powerful story therefore I have chose a number of his images to analyse and look further into.

The documentation was shown to the public through a range of different photographs taken by camera. It was Faas’ job as part of the AP to visually give the audience a stronger view of what was happening in Vietnam during the war.

The majority of the images from this portfolio of work are produced in black and white. The contrast and tones presented in the images create a certain kind of feel to how these photos are viewed by the audience. I believe that the black and white images show and tell a stronger story to what happened. The image when in colour still convey the same emotion however doesn’t seem as dramatic to the public eye.

Faas’ images are used to capture the emotion and fear people where going through at this time, ‘You cant capture a flying bullet but you can capture genuine fear’ Horst Faas ‘the guardian’…….’. I believe the way the expression is captured in his images instantly builds a relationship with the audience, as you instantly feel shocked and devastated for what these people are going through an example of this is shown in ‘image 1. Each photograph shows a detailed, realistic view of...

... middle of paper ...

...ber 2013.

The Denver Post. (2012). Photographer Collection: Horst Faas in Vietnam . Available: http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2012/05/15/photographer-collection-horst-faas-vietnam/. Last accessed December 2013.

The Guardian. (2012). Horst Faas dies aged 79. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/11/vietnam-war-photographer-horst-faas. Last accessed December 2013.

The Guardian. (2012). Photographer Horst Faas- a career in pictures. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/may/11/photographer-horst-faas-in-pictures. Last accessed December 2013.

wbur. (2012). Shooting Vietnam: Remebering Horst Faas. Available: http://www.wbur.org/npr/152670241/shooting-vietnam-remembering-horst-faas. Last accessed December 2013.

Wikipedia. (2013). Horst Faas. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_Faas. Last accessed December 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Book Review of William Prochnau's, Once upon a Distant War

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    Beginning in the early 1960's American journalists began taking a hard look at America's involvement in South Vietnam. This inevitably led to a conflict with the American and South Vietnamese governments, some fellow journalists, and their parent news organizations. This was the last hurrah of print journalism, as television began to grow in stature. William Prochnau's, Once Upon A Distant War, carefully details the struggles of these hardy journalists, led by David Halberstram, Malcolm Browne, and Neil Sheehan. The book contains stories, told in layers, chronicling America's growing involvement in South Vietnam from 1961 through 1963.

    Read More

  • How Did the Cold War Affect the Politics of Germany and Italy?

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hagen W (2012). ‘German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation’. Published by Cambridge University Press (13 Feb 2012)

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien

    2258 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Overview of the Vietnam War." Digital History. Digital History, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Philippe Halsman

    1796 Words  | 4 Pages

    To be named one of the top photographers of the 20th Century is a substantial credit on its own, but to do so with no formal training or background in the art is remarkable, yet accomplished by Philippe Halsman. It all started at the young age of fifteen, when Philippe would photograph friends and family with his father’s 9x12-cm view camera, developing the glass plate “miracles” in the family’s bathroom sink. Even in these early years, using rudimentary equipment, it was evident Halsman had a gift and would leave a definitive mark on the photographic industry. With his ability to capture the true spirit of the subject and his advanced technical abilities, his career was destined to be nothing short of successful (B. Johnson 180).

    Read More

  • The Trial Of Tempel Anneke Summary

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reading the book “The Trial of Tempel Anneke” raises interesting questions, and details the clashing of anxieties that took place within Early Modern German communities, both in economic and religious justification. Some central questions posed by myself is proposed below.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Torie Deghett's The War Photo No One Would Publish

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    An image has the explicit power of telling a story without saying any words, that’s the power behind a photo. A photo tends to comes with many sides to a story, it has the ability to manipulate and tell something differently. There is a tendency in America, where explicit photos of war or anything gruesome occurring in the world are censored for the public view. This censorship hides the reality of our world. In “The War Photo No One Would Publish” Torie DeGhett centers her argument on censorship, detailing the account of graphic Gulf War photo the American press refused to publish. (73) DeGhett argues that the American public shouldn’t be restrained from viewing graphic content of the war occurring around the world. She believes that incomplete

    Read More

  • Night and Fog

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    I loved the way the switched from color to black and white. I got two different meanings from this. 1) We live today in our present environment in a world filled with color. Everything is great, we don’t go through hunger, torture and our dignities aren’t taken from us. The b...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Article about Photography in The New Yorker

    442 Words  | 1 Pages

    The art world of photography is changing all the time. Peter Schjeldahl starts out with a very strong and well written paragraph about the world of art. Peter Schjeldahl says, “You can always tell a William Eggleston photograph. It’s the one in color that hits you in the face and leaves you confused and happy, and perhaps convinces you that you don’t understand photography nearly as well as you thought you did”. These couple of sentences are very strong and flow so well together, and they grab the reader’s attention. Peter explains how William Eggleston was known as a great American photographer.

    Read More

  • Home Design in the 19th Century

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arts Council of Great Britain. The Real Thing: An Anthology of British Photographers 1840-1950. Netherlands: Arts Council of Great Britain. 1975.

    Read More

  • Photography: Lewis Hine

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography. New York, NY : Abbeville Publishing Group, 2007.

    Read More

  • Death Is Human Too: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although colors are usually represented and used for the recollection of joyful experiences, Death uses the colors of the spectrum to enhance the experience of the Book Thief and as well as him own life too. In Death’s narration, his use of the colors illustrate the great ordeal of suffering and pain throughout the book’s setting. As an example Death says “The day was grey, the color of Europe. For me, the sky was the color of Jews” (Zusak, 349). This quote effectively describes Death’s use of the colors by relating it to the events taking place. The colors give perspective to the agony and painful hardships going on in the life of WWII. In a regular setting, colors are used to describe happy memories and any basic descriptions of a setting. Death says “Whatever the hour or color…” (Zusak, 5). By saying this quote, Death establishes the colors a...

    Read More

  • Contrasting Photos: A Soldier's Home Coming

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    War has always been inevitable throughout the history of the world. The outcomes can differ greatly; it’s usually either a win or a loss. Wins or losses are just definite statements, but photos can represent these statements. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “V-J Day in Times Square” shows an American sailor kissing a young woman right in the middle of Times Square, despite their surroundings. This iconic photo was taken after the U.S. declared victory over Japan in World War II, and was published in Life magazine a week later. John Gap’s (III) photo shows a young girl being consoled at a soldier’s funeral in a local high school gymnasium, later to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. This humble photo was taken during the war still raging in Afghanistan, showing that these types of losses happen quite often, as there are no iconic photos for Afghanistan compared to the photo shot after the win over World War II. Unlike its counterpart, this photo was published only at a local level on a website. Both these photos show a soldier being dismissed to go home from war. Although the two photos share that common factor, the scenario in which the soldier comes home differs greatly. Through these photos, Albert Eisenstaedt and John Gaps III help evoke pathos and give the observer a sense of the pride and the devastation felt of a home coming from war using photographic elements such as framing, focus, and angles.

    Read More

  • Desegregation Between the Late 1050's and Early 1960's

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both of these pictures are the same painting, yet different feelings are provoked by each. To me the one on the left, the colorful one, is more intriguing. It jumps at you grabbing your attention and drawing your eye in, giving you a warm and lively feeling. The picture to the right seems a bit dull and emotionless, portraying a melancholy feeling. In the art world color is a good thing. It brings other elements to a picture that you can't receive by using only two colors. Color can represent many things, emotions, mood, importance, a specific object, or as we have come to know the word, people. People seem to be assigned a color that people think represents the type of person they are. Yet, unlike the art world where a color is usually linked to only one trait or emotion, like, black-sadness, white-purity, red-evil, purple-royalty, the colors that we assign each other do not have set traits that are encompassed with in each color. The only thing that is set with the categories of colors we describe each other with is the tone of our skin! The color of ones skin played a big role in the years between the late 1950's and early 1960's and defined the lines of desegregation, in the midst of this racial cacaos lied innocent children and how the case of Central High changed their rights to an education.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Edward Adams's 'Saigon Execution'

    2083 Words  | 5 Pages

    “In a 45-year career, much of it spent in the front ranks of news photographers, he worked for The Associated Press, Time and Parade, covering 13 wars and amassing about 500 photojournalism awards. But it was a 196...

    Read More

  • Photojournalism Essay

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.

    Read More

More about Respond to the work of Horst Faas

Open Document