(War Porn – Ethik im Fotojournalismus)
Can working in war zones as a photographer be morally justified? Why are we all attracted to pictures of other people’s misery? Do we produce war pornography? Christoph Bangert works as a war-zone photographer for international media and often faces a dilemma. On the one hand, he tries to portray happenings faithfully as he perceives them. On the other, he has to come to terms with various levels of self-censorship. The first act of censorship takes place in the photographer’s head: Bangert has no memory of taking some of the photos in his book War Porn. The second level of censorship takes place with the publishing media; the third takes place within the viewer. In War Porn, Bangert conducted a daring experiment: he switched off his inner censor. In his book, he has compiled photographs of the last ten years from Afghanistan, Iraq, Indonesia, Lebanon and Gaza. The result is a raw, intense, controversial and shocking book. It is both extremely personal and honest in its endeavour to take a different type of look at the crises and wars of our time.
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