Author Description

Due To Its Ability To Freeze A Moment In Time, The Photo Is A Uniquely Powerful Device For Ordering And Understanding The World. But When An Image Depicts Complex, Ambiguous, Or Controversial Events--terrorist Attacks, Wars, Political Assassinations--its Ability To Influence Perception Can Prove Deeply Unsettling. Are We Really Seeing The World As It Is Or Is The Image A Fabrication Or Projection? How Do A Photo's Content And Form Shape A Viewer's Impressions? What Do Such Images Contribute To Historical Memory? About To Die Focuses On One Emotionally Charged Category Of News Photograph--depictions Of Individuals Who Are Facing Imminent Death--as A Prism For Addressing Such Vital Questions. Tracking Events As Wide-ranging As The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, The Holocaust, The Vietnam War, And 9/11, Barbie Zelizer Demonstrates That Modes Of Journalistic Depiction And The Power Of The Image Are Immense Cultural Forces That Are Still Far From Understood. Through A Survey Of A Century Of Photojournalism, Including Close Analysis Of Over Sixty Photos, About To Die Provides A Framework And Vocabulary For Understanding The News Imagery That So Profoundly Shapes Our View Of The World.