Читать книгу Approaching Victimology as social science for Human rights a Spanish perspective онлайн
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Photography is not as spectacular as a monument. It is conceived as the art of seeing life in space and time. When we look at a picture we simultaneously see past and present in a continuum of recorded and unrecorded objects and effects. For this reason, it holds great potential for communicating messages related to the memorialisation of harm.
In any case, many questions remain on the function of photojournalists. Are photographers partial as witnesses or narrators of objective and subjective dimensions of victimisation? To what extent is photojournalists’ work more related to artistic photography where the audience might have more open space for interpretation? Finally, the important role of journalists, in general, as witnesses does not neglect the partial political dimensions of any kind of photography and journalistic account, following the seminal work of Susan Sontag (2003).
1.3.1. On journalists as direct and indirect victims: Vicarious trauma
On the topic of victims and media, we can also think of journalists as potential victims in war or violence contexts and in continuously dealing with violent victimisation. According to Sian Williams and Tina Cartwright (2021) in a study to examine PTSD symptoms, personal risk and posttraumatic growth in journalists, “those working in conflict areas experience significantly higher levels of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth, than those who do not”. Beyond losing their own lives, this work highlights the need “to allow sufficient time for reflection and meaning-making for all those working in hostile environments”. According to various experts, the term vicarious trauma (Perlman and Saakvitne, 1995) describes the phenomenon generally associated with the “cost of caring” for others (Figley, 1982). It means the emotional impact of working with victims. It is an accumulative process that might produce a feeling of lack of meaning and efficacy in the work being done, of lack of trust in others and in the future, and also depression (Dubberlay et al., 2015; Dubberlay and Grant, 2017; Varona, 2021).