Shooting War
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SHOOTING WAR AEYLIYA HUSAIN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN FILM YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO September 2016 © Aeyliya Husain, 2016 ABSTRACT Shooting War is a 20-minute documentary that portrays the Iraq war through three photographs captured from the point-of-view of photographer Franco Pagetti, as he explores the impact the conflict has had on a country, a region and the world. When the Americans declared war on Iraq in 2003, Franco Pagetti was on the ground with his camera, ready to document the conflict as he saw it (from 2003 – 2008). He was one of two photographers working for TIME magazine during a war that lasted far longer than predicted, and with devastating global consequences. As a photographer, he understands the power of an image and the impact it can have. Pagetti recalls the Vietnam War as he says: “How many good writers were there, but what do you remember from that war? The picture of the girl burned by napalm.”1 Images from each major conflict, in the twentieth and twenty-first century, have told stories that reveal a truth about war not told in the headlines. What are the stories from the Iraq War? What truths will they reveal? By revealing the events surrounding the photographs, the viewer gains a better understanding of what the image is saying. Errol Morris states, “it is interesting how a photograph quickly changes when we learn more about what it depicts, when we provide a context, when we become familiar with an underlying story. “2 It is this premise that the film, ‘Shooting War’ explores. 1 Pagetti, Franco, Interview March 2016 2 Morris, Errol, Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. New York Times (2007) ii ACKNOWLEDMENTS I would like to acknowledge the support, guidance and flexibility of my thesis supervisor John Greyson, who helped me jump over every hurdle I encountered while making my thesis film (and there were many). For the invaluable feedback provided by my other committee member Colleen Wagner, I am grateful for her insight and fresh perspective. To Kuowei Lee, who tirelessly provided all the information and assistance that any graduate student could ask for. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDMENTS ......................................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 Comparison to Previous Work .................................................................................................................... 2 Why Photography? .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Thesis Subject ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Franco Pagetti - Background ....................................................................................................................... 6 STRUCTURE AND STYLE .................................................................................................................................. 8 Influences ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 THE POWER OF THE IMAGE ........................................................................................................................ 12 FROM VIETNAM AND SOMALIA TO IRAQ .......................................................................................... 16 IRAQ ........................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Background ..................................................................................................................................................... 20 2003 Conflict ................................................................................................................................................. 25 SHOOTING WAR .................................................................................................................................................. 28 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................ 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................................... 38 FILMOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................................... 39 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: AP (photographer not mentioned) ................................................................................... 5 Figure 2: Gary Knight, On the rontlines: Start of the Iraq War, 2003 ............................................ 7 Figure 3:William Waud, Burning of Columbia, 1865. Library of Congress .................................. 8 Figure 4: Francisco Goya, The Third of May, 1808, Museo del Prado .......................................... 9 Figure 5: Ernest Brooks A wintry scene on the Western Front, National Library of Scotland ............................ 13 Figure 6: AP Eddie Adams ‘Saigon Execution: Murder of a Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief, 1968’ .................... 14 Figure 7: Paul Watson, 1994 TIME Magazine ............................................................................. 18 Figure 8: “He was fighting to save his life to the very end, till he was completely burned up,” Jarecke says of the man he photographed. “He was trying to get out of that truck.” ... 23 Figure 9: Franco Pagetti, Schoolgirls, Baghdad, Iraq 2004 .......................................................... 24 Figure 10: Yuri Kozyrev Iraq War 2003 – TIME magazine An Iraqi man paints over a portrait of President Saddam Hussein ............................. 25 Figure 11: AP US Army marching through Baghdad, Iraq 2003 (photographer not named) ...... 26 Figure 12: Yuri Kozyrev, Iraq 2003 – TIME magazine US Marines stand in front of the Ministry of Oil in downtown Baghdad .................. 26 Figure 13: Franco Pagetti, March 21st, 2003, Baghdad ................................................................ 28 Figure 14: Kate Brooks, Sept. 2003 An estimated 125 people were killed in a car bombing at the Tomb of Imam Ali in Najaf. The attack targeted a prominent Shiite cleric and occurred as the faithful were leaving after Friday prayers ................................................................... 31 Figure 15: Franco Pagetti, Baghdad, 2004 .................................................................................... 32 Figure 16: Franco Pagetti, Ramadi Iraq, 2007 .............................................................................. 34 v INTRODUCTION “The problem is not that people remember through photographs but that they remember only the photographs. To remember is, more and more, not to recall a story but to be able to call up a picture. ” ~ Susan Sontag3 Since the invention of the camera, images have taken on a power that surpasses the word, in cultures that are image-based. The photograph is easier to recall than a film. Even though a film excites and stimulates us, it is the still image that is imprinted onto our memories. British journalist Harold Evans states: “The image can trigger all the emotions aroused by the event or personality.”4 This essay-style film explores the stories behind war zone photographs, and how those stories change viewers’ readings of particular images. It's an exploration of the role of photography, the importance of the images spread across various media platforms and how these inform the public about a conflict as it unfolds. The film is interview-based and told through the perspective of one person, the photographer, Franco Pagetti. He tells the story of the Iraq War through his lens. I spoke to various photographers for this project, among them Larry Towell, Paul Watson, and Louie Palu, all of whom have worked in conflict zones. Paul Watson told me you shouldn’t trust the text that accompanies an image because “it is a false construct”5 and doesn’t accurately represent what is outside the frame. So the more we understand what is outside the frame, the better we understand the image. A strong photograph makes the viewer curious about 3 Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York (Picador, 2003) 4 Evans, Harold. The American Century, New York. (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998). 5 Watson, Paul. Interview. October, 2015 1 what happened and why. Franco Pagetti believes that photographs “need to get people to think about the conflict and not turn away.”6 He believes this is done through