Humanity in War: from the mid-19th century to the conflicts of today

12-06-2009 Photo gallery

A selection of photos from the book Humanity in War. These images illustrate the history of armed conflict from the second half of the 19th century to the present. They bear witness not only to the brutality of war and the suffering inflicted on combatants and civilians but also to the efforts that have been made to relieve this suffering. The photos are accompanied by an extract from the introduction to the book, written by photographer James Nachtwey.

- American Civil War, 1861-1865.
  © ICRC / hist-01389-34
“It’s been said that one picture is worth a thousand words. For a photographer, the saying can be reversed: one word is sometimes worth a thousand pictures. “Genocide”, “famine”, “war”, “epidemic”: words like these have brought about the creation of the ICRC and dozens of other humanitarian organizations, have inspired photographers to take risks and endure hardships. Although it has not always been regarded like this, the fact is that documentary photography and humanitarian work exist symbiotically: one of the primary functions of photography is to complement and support the work of humanitarian agencies.”
The comments accompanying this series of photos are by the photographer James Nachtwey and are taken from the introduction to Humanity in war: frontline photography since 1860.

First World War. Sweden.
© ICRC / hist-01144-04

Disabled German and Austrian servicemen released from captivity in Russia gather at Hallsberg station for a prisoner-of-war exchange under the auspices of the Swedish Red Cross.

Greco-Turkish War, 1923.
© ICRC / hist-02493-11a

A group of refugees board a ship on the Samanli-Dag peninsula with the help of the Turkish Red Crescent Society.

Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1936. Surgeons operating in a field hospital.
© ICRC / hist-03503-08a

“One of the few things that allows one to take heart is that these photographs also show people coming to the aid of those who are suffering. These people have left their homes, risked lives and limbs, overcome extraordinary obstacles. They have not given up.”

Spanish Civil War, 1937.
© ICRC / hist-00871

Families gathered in the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Cabeza surrender to Republican troops after 150 days of siege.

Second World War. Germany. Men in a concentration-camp dormitory.
© Polish Red Cross / hist-01153-30

“Widen the lens of history and you see many different places, but many similar images: the scattered dead, skeletal figures, eyes shining with horror and a trace of desperate hope, columns of refugees, destroyed cities and villages, rows of the sick, mass graves, shackles and chains, crying children, grieving mothers. This raises more, perhaps unanswerable, questions about the nature of human progress.”

Korean War, 1950.
© ICRC / kpkr-n-00012-04

South Korean military police interrogate North Korean prisoners of war in Pyongyang.

Japan, 1952.
© ICRC / jp-e-00094

A woman reads the first letter received from her husband who remained imprisoned in the Soviet Union after the end of the Second World War.

Yemen conflict, 1964. Prisoners during an ICRC visit.
© ICRC / ye-e-00518

“The ICRC’s delegates, and those from other humanitarian organizations, share the same hope as the people they’re helping, and they act on it, despite the hardships they endure and the risks they face. When I look at the pictures in this book, I can’t help but think how much worse things would have been if they hadn’t been there”.

Biafra conflict, Nigeria, 1968. A child waits for milk and fish vouchers in a feeding centre.
© ICRC / H.D. Finck / ng-n-00021-05

“Photographs are not cold documents that merely prove something happened. They put a human face on events that might otherwise appear to be abstract or ideological, a matter of statistics or monumental in their global impact. No matter how overwhelming an event, what happens to people at ground level happens to them individually, and photography has a unique ability to portray events from their point of view. Photography gives a voice to the voiceless. It’s a call to action.”

Viet Nam War, South Viet Nam, 1975.
© ICRC / vn-d-00008-10

Following the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese military personnel and their families seek desperately to be airlifted out of the area.

ICRC doctor examines a child.
© ICRC / L. Chessex / rd-n-00053-07 Zimbabwe, 1979.

Afghanistan, 1998. Military cemetery in Kabul.
© ICRC / F. Pagetti / af-n-00264-34

“When people are suffering, it doesn’t mean they are without dignity. When people are afraid, it doesn’t mean they lack courage. When people are in pain, it does not mean they have no hope. It’s very difficult to witness suffering, even more so when you have to concentrate on it in order to make an effective photograph. What an honest, sensitive and conscientious photographer would work very hard to perceive and to capture is that moment when all of those things coexist. Whatever else one might see or feel when looking at a picture of human suffering – outrage, sadness, disbelief – I think an essential reaction is a sense of compassion. Compassion humanizes issues, helps us identify with others, and requires us to correct that which is unacceptable.”

Peru 2004. Members of the national association of families of persons missing, detained or held hostage in areas under a state of emergency demonstrate in Ayacucho.
© ICRC / B. Heger / pe-e-00005

“Photographers are many things – historians, dramatists, artists – and humanitarians. As journalists, one of their tasks is to reveal the unjust and the unacceptable, so that their images become an element in the process of change. In this way, photography is an important complement to the work of humanitarian organizations.”

Graffiti on the West Bank Barrier.
© ICRC / C. von Toggenburg / il-e-01112

Territories occupied by Israel, 2007.

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