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Art and Photojournalism

Film and photojournalism have been extremely important aspects of war since their invention. One journalist wrote, "Photographic journalism is generally accepted as an authoritative source of visual information about our times" (Steichen 5). This is especially true of war photography, because the photographer's lens captures the horror and agony of war in a split second, and immortalizes it forever. Some of the most memorable photographs of the century are war photographs, from the sailor celebrating in Times Square with his sweetheart to the assassination of a Vietcong insurgent; the photos live on in our minds, and bring back the terror and emotion of the war experience. In World War II, film and photography brought the war home to American's doorsteps, and helped them understand just what the men were facing in Europe and Japan. Photos and film have done that for every war since they were invented, and they serve a vital purpose not only in keeping us informed, but also in keeping us cognizant of the world around us.

You don't have to paint a figure to express human feelings," and that is quite evident in art today, and art from the mid-twentieth century, such as the art of Jackson Pollock. Pollock's work does not contain anything remotely resembling figures, but there is something quite electric about his paintings, and they bring out strong emotions in the viewer. His abstract paintings at first just seem a jumbled mess of color, but if gazed at long enough, they take on patterns, hues, and certainly bring out emotions and feelings. Some of the paintings are vibrant and exciting, while others are subdued and more poignant. These are quite human qualities, but there are no humans in the paintings, they are simply forms and colors. Even when Pollock did paint figures, they were not "normal" figures, they were abstract creations, and they too evoked very human feelings. Color, shape, texture, and form can all express human feelings, and Pollock used all of these creatively and effectively to create a very human and real feeling in his paintings, even in the absence of any human forms in them. Art can convey many different feelings and emotions, as Pollock's art clearly shows.