When is reality inappropriate?

I recently read this article (warning: the images shown in the links in that article are very graphic and disturbing) on npr.com about violence in the World Press Photo Contest and how violent images, of war-torn villages, executions and civil unrest, are often the winners. And not without reason as these images are very powerful and were often taken at great risk to the photographer but as the article questions, when is it too much? When do these images cross the line from giving us a window into a world we don't normally see to showing us something that in many ways is just too horrific. There are lots of issues this debate brings up. Is it exploitative; what are the photographers true motivation in presenting this image? Is it just ignorance on the part of the societies that view these images to be labeling them too violent? Are we too sheltered? Or, is there a point where showing these images truly serves no beneficial purpose?

Since reading the article I have given this topic a lot of thought and for me have decided that there is a point where, yes, it is too much. We should all strive to as educated and informed as possible and I am in no way advocating sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to violence and the fact that many countries are much more violent than our own. But I honestly think the cons out weigh the pros of viewing the very gratuitous images that make up many of the submissions. These images are not something that can ever be viewed passively; they elicit strong emotions, as they should. But to me it seems the danger of seeing so many images like this, without any connection to the actual event works to desensitize and disconnect the viewer from the story, from the reality. It becomes about the extremes of the violence and not about the people experiencing it. I would venture to say that most people who witness extremes acts of violence wish they never had and while those of us who have not witnessed such things are in enviable positions I don't think we can make any of that right my looking at these images and pretending we can understand.

And I do think you have to address the issue of exploitation as well. Even if the photographer has the best of intentions in bringing this image to the world (which I don't always think is the case) I think it is always a fine line that is walked by anyone who would displays images from a culture in which they are only an onlooker. This issue was brought to light recently with the death of the Georgian Olympic Luger who's accident was caught on camera. This video was played online and on most major news broadcasts. I didn't watch it online, where I first saw it - as I usually, when given the choice, choose not to view things I feel are inappropriate and sensationalized - but out later that night I saw it playing on the screen in a bar. While this video is not particularly graphic, it is disturbing, to be watching a video that ends in a real living persons death; not a movie on tv. It this case I think the question of exploitation is obvious, news agencies knew people would watch, as it was tragic and shocking. There was little regard for anything other then sensationalism. Afterwards most people (news agencies included) agreed that it was in bad taste but at that point people had gotten what they wanted from the story anyway. I can't help but wonder though if that has been an American that died that day if maybe the broadcasters would have thought twice about plastering that video all over the airwaves.

These are my feelings on this topic, I can't go as far as to say that for no one is exposure to images of extreme violence beneficial. If you live in denial about what human beings are capable of then perhaps some of these images would educate you. But for most cases, I think it is ok to say that yes, sometimes seeing what it's really like can be too much. Because in the end most of us are just looking at pictures we can't truly understand and have little new to take away from them.

I think the quiet power and heartbreaking stillness of this years winning photo shows that turbulence can be portrayed without graphic violence and with a much more haunting and effectual message.