Images of Trauma in News Media
As an art therapist in NYC, I always take note of the images that are used in the mainstream media. It peaks my curiosity to reflect on what is being articulated beyond just the words in the article.
In the past months, the world has watched in horror as Syrians have poured into neighboring countries looking for safety. Images of refugees in alien lands seek to capture the pain and uncertainty of their experience. The images shown through news outlets are very upsetting yet I feel a slight distance- it is hard for an image to really capture their experience in a way that translates and is relatable to a typical American. It is also challenging to fully take in the trauma that is taking place during the normal hustle and bustle of day to day life. As we have moved from paper news sources to ones accessible online, it is even more challenging to hold our collective attention.
Earlier this year, the New York Times Magazine's Teju Cole writes of this very dilemma in his article “Object Lesson”. He states, “the more photographs shock, the more difficult it is for them to be pinned to their local context, and the more easily they are indexed to our mental library of generic images”. In fact, Cole writes not only of the challenge being emotionally present with humanitarian horrors captured on film, but he goes a step further to describe a “helpless voyeurism” and an inability to look away.
A More Human Way to Capture Pain
“Object Lesson” highlights two artists who seek to present a collective tragedy in an alternative way to the typical images featured on the news. Artist Glenna Gordon photographed objects left behind by the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram. She photographed the schoolgirls' belongings, ranging from pens to dresses, from the site of their abduction in Chibok, Nigeria.
Ukrainian photographer Sergei Ilnitsky lived through the 2013 Kiev protests, which were drawn out and whose government retaliations were notoriously brutal. Ilnitsky is a master of still life and shows everyday scenes in disarray, leaving the viewer to infer that something terrible has just taken place.
What makes the work of Gordon and Ilnitsky so successful is the relatability. These are everyday objects that we can picture ourselves and our loved ones using, common spaces that we can picture ourselves being in. Both collections leave the viewer with more questions than answers- whose blood is that? Why is there broken glass? What happened to Hauwa Mutah, the owner of that shirt whose name is so carefully spelled out on the back?
In addition to the universality of the objects and scenes of these images, Gordon and Ilnitksy's work is evocative because of our own relationship with object themselves. Seen in early childhood development, kids attribute special meaning to everyday objects as a way to cope with stress. Their favorite stuffed animal or fleece blanket is no longer just that- these objects are given nicknames and offer relief when children have to spend time away from their primary caregivers. D.W. Winnicott famously named this phenomenon the "transitional object" giving value to blankies and Binkies everywhere.
The Power of Objects
Objects can be used to cope with stress and trauma well beyond early childhood. Articles left behind by loved ones who have died can be of comfort and can elicit memories and a feeling of connection to that person. Or after a break up, it can be quite cathartic and a source of closure to let go of or give back your exes' belongings. Cole invokes Marcel Proust in "Object Lesson", quoting, “we think we no longer love the dead because we don’t remember them, but if by chance we come across an old glove we burst into tears".
The power of objects is a part of the foundation of art therapy- the art created has meaning that transcends just its aesthetics. It represents the therapeutic relationship and the love and safety of the therapeutic environment. It also will have a deeper meaning based on the subject or insight that the art was inspired by.
Making News Reporting More Human
An image in my twitter feed (@TriBeCaArtThrpy) regarding the Syrian refugee crisis recently stopped me in my tracks. Novelist Rabih Alameddine, who was previously unknown to me, shared this image of a sculpture created by Syrian, Nizar Ali Badr, presumably of a family with their most important possessions on their back displaced from their home country. So much is communicated with these simple found objects that is somehow more powerful than if this was an image of a family themselves. Our brains are unable to trick us into filing this image into our "mental library of generic images" as referenced by Cole.
Whether news channels make use of objects or not, I wonder what could be done to make reporting more human. How can the actual content of an event being covered be communicated more effectively? Perhaps just beyond reporting on the facts concretely, more can be communicated regarding the experiences, both through words and image.
