9 Warning : this article includes graphic images some readers may find disturbing .
Conflict Images
Louise Jones ( PhD in Media , Keele University )
Abstract
This article analyses whether still or moving images make more of a difference to our understanding of war and conflict , focusing in particular on three case studies : i ) photographic images from the Ukrainian demonstrations , ‘ Leninfall ’; ii ) the photographic image of Alun Kurdi , a Syrian refugee child who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea , whilst he and his family were trying to get to the Greek coast of Kos ; and iii ) the moving image of ‘ Bolan Market ’, film footage of British troops travelling through an Afghan Market-town . Now more than ever , the idea of what “ we ” see , and the value placed on visuals in News Media , is at its most prominent , as images are being routinely used to legitimise the stories that are being told . Yet , the images selected fall against a backdrop marked by a set of highly contested recent wars and conflicts , notably Euromaidan - a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in the Ukraine between November 2013 and February 2014 , the ongoing