Teaching with disturbing images
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Photographs are especially powerful tools for explaining current and historical events — not least horrible or brutal events, such as war, genocide, famine, terrorism, slavery, and lynching. In fact, photographs are often used specifically to raise an emotional response in the viewer and to convince the viewer to take action to prevent further brutality. Matthew Brady’s photographs of the aftermaths of battles in the U.S. Civil War brought home to Northerners the brutality of modern warfare in a way that words alone could not. Photographs of the massacre of Vietnamese women, children, and elderly at My Lai fueled opposition to the Vietnam War.
Because of their power, photographs are both tremendously valuable to teachers and potentially troublesome. This article examines some of the reasons to use disturbing photographs in teaching and provides suggestions for using them thoughtfully and effectively.
Why use disturbing photographs in a classroom?
Current and historical events are not always pretty. War, genocide, famine, terrorism, slavery, and lynching are issues that are difficult to consider rationally. They raise fear and disgust as well as complex questions about human nature. Yet it is crucial for educators to address them in the classroom. It is impossible to understand the past or the present without facing these issues, and the best way to prevent such horrors from happening again is to encourage frank, thoughtful discussions about their causes and consequences.
Age appropriateness
Photographs with disturbing content may be inappropriate for viewing by young children, but the appropriate age for study will vary with the content of the photograph and the maturity of the students. Grade 7 or 8 may be a good cutoff for discussions of violence, war, and slavery. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Students in grades 7 and above demonstrate an ability to empathize with individual eyewitness accounts and to attempt to understand the complexities of this history, including the scope and scale of the events. While elementary students are able to empathize with individual survivor accounts, they often have difficulty placing these personal stories in a larger historical context. Such demonstrable developmental differences have traditionally shaped social studies curricula throughout the country; in most states, students are not introduced to European history and geography — the context for the Holocaust — before grades 7 or 8. 1
Strategies for teaching
Use images judiciously.
Don’t use disturbing photographs or other graphic content merely to “get students’ attention.” Have a specific instructional objective in mind, and use graphic content only to the extent necessary to achieve that objective. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum reminds teachers that
Students are essentially a “captive audience.” When you assault them with images of horror for which they are unprepared,you violate a basic trust: the obligation of a teacher to provide a “safe” learning environment. The assumption that all students will seek to understand human behavior after being exposed to horrible images is fallacious. Some students may be so appalled by images of brutality and mass murder that they are discouraged from studying the subject further. Others may become fascinated in a more voyeuristic fashion, subordinating further critical analysis of the history to the superficial titillation of looking at images of starvation, disfigurement, and death. Though they can be powerful tools, shocking images of mass killings and barbarisms should not overwhelm a student’s awareness of the broader scope of events within Holocaust history. Try to select images and texts that do not exploit the students’ emotional vulnerability or that might be construed as disrespectful of the victims themselves. 2
Acknowledge the disturbing nature of the images.
Photographs of dead bodies or of human beings in chains or awaiting slaughter are disturbing. Some photographs of war and brutality were taken for purely documentary purposes, but many were taken expressly to capture the horrors the photographer saw and to evoke an emotional response in the viewer.
Accept students’ emotional response to graphic photographs, but do not let emotion rule the ensuing discussion. Allow students to respond emotionally, and acknowledge that such response is normal. Then ask them to move beyond that emotional response to a rational discussion of the issues and context surrounding the image. You can model this by telling students frankly and calmly what an image makes you feel, then demonstrably setting aside your own feelings as you move into discussion.
Avoid simple answers to complex issues.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in its educators’ guide, writes:
A study of the Holocaust raises difficult questions about human behavior, and it often involves complicated answers as to why events occurred. Be wary of oversimplification. Allow students to contemplate the various factors that contributed to the Holocaust; do not attempt to reduce Holocaust history to one or two catalysts in isolation from the other factors that came into play. 3
The same is true of any photographs (or other discussion) of violence, war, slavery, and death. When discussing war crimes, don’t settle for easy explanations such as “they were crazy” or “they were brainwashed” or “they were racist.” Allow students to imagine and discuss the various factors that may lead people to behave in ways that they find abhorrent.
Strive for balance of perspectives.
It is easy when viewing images of the Holocaust or war crimes to focus exclusively on the victims. It is also common for students to assume that victims must have done something to justify the actions taken against them. In discussing any historical event, consider participants on both sides as individual human beings who are capable of moral judgment and independent decision making. 4
Consider the photography as a historical event in itself.
Remind students that the photograph is not the event itself, but a representation of the event. Ask questions that provoke discussion of the image’s context:
- Who took the photograph, and why? Photos of Holocaust victims were often taken by German soliders and authorities for official, documentary purposes, while many photographs of atrocities in the Vietnam War were taken by journalists whose opinions about the war may be captured in their work. Photographs of lynchings in the U.S. South were often turned into postcards and sold as souvenirs — making the photography nearly as horrible as the event it depicts. 5
- How did people respond to the photograph? People’s responses may have been different at the time of the event than they are now — postcards of lynchings, for example, were created and purchased by people who found them entertaining, whereas their recent republication has served to remind Americans uncomfortably of the violence that racism and xenophobia can provoke. What does the public response tell us about the context of the event, and the people depicted in the photograph?
For more questions to ask of photographs, see “Photographs: A Process Guide for Students.”
