One thing that stuck out to me in Hovagimyan’s piece is the
part where he mentions that the invention of photography brought about a
decline in the paintings of heroic battle scenes. This was due to how people
could see what battle actually looked like, namely, grimy, bloody, and not fun.
I find it interesting, then, that photography has been used, through film, to
make many films that glorify war in spite of its grimy reality. Our perception
of war may have changed, but we still have war heroes. We still draw glory out
of war despite the grimy truth we have learned about it with the aid of
photography. This idea has carried through to the development of film as well. Post 9/11, the War on Terror has brought about a new, especially grimy reality of war, and films nowadays such as The Hurt Locker and American Sniper depict that, while at the same time making heroes out of the soldiers who fight. For example, this clip from American Sniper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF40oKgQ9Jg
In it, the cinematography highlights the grittiness of the moment. We see the rival sniper through cracks in the net of tarps covering him. Close-ups of Bradley Cooper and the other sniper heighten the tension, as does the rhythmic editing. The shot sizes get closer and closer, making the audience almost uncomfortable. The palette is a drab brown and gray. The grittiness is embedded in the heroism; emerging from this, Cooper shoots the bullet, and in slow motion we see it travel through the air and hit his target. Cooper, or Chris Kyle, is a hero, as a result of the grittiness of war. This is how we still draw glory out of war despite knowing its reality: we embrace that reality, and play it up in a heroic way.
In it, the cinematography highlights the grittiness of the moment. We see the rival sniper through cracks in the net of tarps covering him. Close-ups of Bradley Cooper and the other sniper heighten the tension, as does the rhythmic editing. The shot sizes get closer and closer, making the audience almost uncomfortable. The palette is a drab brown and gray. The grittiness is embedded in the heroism; emerging from this, Cooper shoots the bullet, and in slow motion we see it travel through the air and hit his target. Cooper, or Chris Kyle, is a hero, as a result of the grittiness of war. This is how we still draw glory out of war despite knowing its reality: we embrace that reality, and play it up in a heroic way.
I believe that Hovagimyan’s point about how photography
could capture the “actuality” of war ties into his larger idea that in the
modern, “Post Media” days, media seems to interact with art at an almost
seemless level in the technological space. Photography seems like the beginning
of that idea, providing reproducible art that portrayed stark reality.
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