Afterimages

"Kennedy admirably extends our appreciation for the work of photojournalists such as Philip Jones Griffiths, David Burnett, Gilles Peress, and Susan Meiselas, who document violence and its effects, brought about largely by American foreign policy, in a way that intersects the worlds of art, politics, and the news media. Highly recommended."-- "Choice" "Moving from the Vietnam War to the Homeland Security State, Afterimages examines the work of renowned photojournalists and documentary photographers who have critically sought to reshape their genre. In thinking through their images, Kennedy reflects on broader issues of what the public wants to see and what it chooses not to see. He is in control of his material, moving nimbly from analyzing the composition of particular photographs to indicating their broader cultural significance. By limiting the scope of the inquiry, Kennedy suggests the larger stakes of our changing relationship to photographs as documents of war."-- "Diplomatic History" "Afterimages makes immediate and enduring contributions to scholarship on photojournalism, the representation of violence, and the role of the press in international politics. Kennedy weaves together professional, academic, and public commentary to identify a discourse on photojournalism that has been both guiding practitioners and subject to continual innovation in tandem with the changing nature of American warfare. This is a compelling book."-- "Robert Hariman, Northwestern University" "Afterimages makes a powerful argument for the role that photojournalism has played in affirming the values of liberal democracy in the face of the constant and brutal wars waged by the United States. Kennedy brings to light the strategies and experience of a range of enormously talented photojournalists in the face of danger, apathy, and censorship. Afterimages is riveting in the stories that it tells and insightful in its analysis of the changing worlds of war and photojournalism--it is smart and original, a must read for those concerned with war photography, photojournalism, and US foreign policy over the last fifty years."-- "Marita Sturken, New York University"

Liam Kennedy is professor of American studies and director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin. He is the author or editor of several books, including The Violence of the Image: Photography and International Conflict.