Respond to the work of Horst Faas

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Recommended: Critical analysis of war photographer

In this essay I am going to respond the work of Horst Faas, a German photojournalist who was most famous for his documentary photography during the Vietnam War (1956-1975). Horst Faas captured these images by being in the middle of the action and following troops and Vietnamese civilians who where caught in the middle of all the conflict. His photography has shown the rest of the world the horror, fear and bravery from civilians and soldiers who lived through this traumatic time. I feel the images Horst Faas captured each tells a powerful story therefore I have chose a number of his images to analyse and look further into.

The documentation was shown to the public through a range of different photographs taken by camera. It was Faas’ job as part of the AP to visually give the audience a stronger view of what was happening in Vietnam during the war.

The majority of the images from this portfolio of work are produced in black and white. The contrast and tones presented in the images create a certain kind of feel to how these photos are viewed by the audience. I believe that the black and white images show and tell a stronger story to what happened. The image when in colour still convey the same emotion however doesn’t seem as dramatic to the public eye.

Faas’ images are used to capture the emotion and fear people where going through at this time, ‘You cant capture a flying bullet but you can capture genuine fear’ Horst Faas ‘the guardian’…….’. I believe the way the expression is captured in his images instantly builds a relationship with the audience, as you instantly feel shocked and devastated for what these people are going through an example of this is shown in ‘image 1. Each photograph shows a detailed, realistic view of...

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The Denver Post. (2012). Photographer Collection: Horst Faas in Vietnam . Available: http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2012/05/15/photographer-collection-horst-faas-vietnam/. Last accessed December 2013.

The Guardian. (2012). Horst Faas dies aged 79. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/11/vietnam-war-photographer-horst-faas. Last accessed December 2013.

The Guardian. (2012). Photographer Horst Faas- a career in pictures. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/may/11/photographer-horst-faas-in-pictures. Last accessed December 2013.

wbur. (2012). Shooting Vietnam: Remebering Horst Faas. Available: http://www.wbur.org/npr/152670241/shooting-vietnam-remembering-horst-faas. Last accessed December 2013.

Wikipedia. (2013). Horst Faas. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_Faas. Last accessed December 2013.

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