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The Camera at War: 170 years of weaponizing photography
It is said that the first casualty of war is truth. But in the arena of war photography, the truth is never simple.
Drawing on an incredible range of imagery from the Imperial War Museum's vast collection and other major archives around the globe, expert curator Hilary Roberts presents a new perspective on the role of image manipulation in this field over the past 170 years,exploring the consequences for our understanding of historic and contemporary conflicts.
From the staged scenes and hand-coloured Daguerreotypes of the Crimean War at the very beginning of conflict photography to the AI-generated protest and propaganda imagery of today, Roberts explores the myriad ways in which layers of meaning can be added, erased or changed completely. As The Camera at War so powerfully reveals, sometimes this has been done in order to present a closer approximation of the truth, and sometimes for the causes of national morale, subterfuge and control of the winning narrative.
Drawing on an incredible range of imagery from the Imperial War Museum's vast collection and other major archives around the globe, expert curator Hilary Roberts presents a new perspective on the role of image manipulation in this field over the past 170 years,exploring the consequences for our understanding of historic and contemporary conflicts.
From the staged scenes and hand-coloured Daguerreotypes of the Crimean War at the very beginning of conflict photography to the AI-generated protest and propaganda imagery of today, Roberts explores the myriad ways in which layers of meaning can be added, erased or changed completely. As The Camera at War so powerfully reveals, sometimes this has been done in order to present a closer approximation of the truth, and sometimes for the causes of national morale, subterfuge and control of the winning narrative.
251 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2025
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January 5, 2026
A photograph conveys a message even before the shutter is pressed. Photographers have the power not only to decide what they photograph, but also how and whether they do so. This means that there's no neutral perspective, especially in war and crisis journalism. The audience is presented with a reality that probably doesn't exist. Photos are staged, cropped, censored or not even released in the first place. This is because the military, authorities or organisations often have a say in the matter (or do so without the photographer's knowledge). As a result, images from conflicts continue to be a powerful propaganda tool. AI will further increase their significance in the future - in an even more dangerous way.
This is a development that Hilary Roberts addresses in her work, as well as the fact that manipulation begins with captioning or image editing. She illustrates the various practices with numerous examples from the now 170-year history of war photography. "The Camera at War" is aimed at laymen and experts alike. It is both an introduction and an in-depth study – and gripping to the very last page.
I'd easily give it a 4,5 rating.
This is a development that Hilary Roberts addresses in her work, as well as the fact that manipulation begins with captioning or image editing. She illustrates the various practices with numerous examples from the now 170-year history of war photography. "The Camera at War" is aimed at laymen and experts alike. It is both an introduction and an in-depth study – and gripping to the very last page.
I'd easily give it a 4,5 rating.
Displaying 1 of 1 review