Ron Haviv’s photography from the Bosnian War is a defining marker in world history – his perspective is the lens through which the entire world sees and understands the conflict. So many of his photographs are considered iconic, but perhaps the most iconic, defining photo of his from this time is the image of a Serbian solider kicking a dying Bosnian woman in the head. Not only does it perfectly capture the horrific nature of the war, but it is also, simply, a quintessential “Eastern-Europe-in-the-90s” image. The clothing of the civilians, the car in the background, the style of building – this is a moment completely cemented in time.
When we first looked at the photo, I was not sure if I had seen it before; it seemed familiar, but I had been looking at an inordinate amount of war photography so everything seemed vaguely familiar. I decided to ask my mom what she knew of the image – I figured I could use her as a even measurement of just how recognizable this photo is for people who lived through the war, as a complete outsider. I texted her Haviv’s photo and asked if she recognized it. She responded immediately, “Holy s***. Is that Bosnia or something?” I feel like this sums up the general, common knowledge of the photo (in the US at least): a recognition that it is from the Bosnian War, and besides the horror associated with that fact, not much additional information.
In a much greater sense, Haviv’s photo is the defining shot of the Bosnian War – not only does it shape the way people perceive the conflict and violence, but it has been used as evidence for war crimes. As John Kifner of the New York Times put it, “It tells you everything you need to know.” This is, overwhelmingly, the consensus about the photograph – it shows the story of the nasty war as plainly as possible. Not only does it capture the essence of the Serbian forces, it also individually incriminates the soldier performing the action in the photo (whether or not he feels guilt for it is another matter entirely). Richard Geib ran a blog in the 90s devoted to reactions to the Bosnian War, and he reflected on Haviv’s photo, saying, “There is nothing worse than a thug pretending to be a ‘soldier’ wearing a uniform and wielding the power a gun gives him. Such an individual is a bully plain and simple.” This photo not only shows the greater conflict as a whole, but also narrows in on how personal and despicable the violence was.
Susan Sontag was critical of the way the photo was received because she fundamentally took issue with the idea that one photo could tell such a large, complex story. Naturally, this one shot does not tell the entire story of the Bosnian War, but if you had to sum it up in one image, it seems to be the general consensus that this photo mostly does the trick. This is how this image is now preserved in history – iconic, yes, and the short explanation for what happened during the Bosnian War. This photo’s legacy is that it will continue to be in the small field of images that we as a society deem iconic – one of those that has been burnt into our collective consciousness forever.
Sources:
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/bosnia/bosnia.html
http://www.adamklein.me/2011/09/on-susan-sontags-regarding-pain-of.html
http://artthreat.net/2010/12/joe-sacco-interview-2/
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.