When you think of the attacks of September 11th, what picture comes into your mind? Perhaps it’s the image of the Twin Towers, burning. Or of three firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero after the attacks. Whatever comes to you, visuals tend to play a large role in how we form our idea of what took place during an event.
Today, we’re going to look at the role visuals have played in our understanding of the military and terrorism since September 11th. It’s the subject of a book called Beyond the Checkpoint: Visual Practices in America’s Global War on Terror, written by Rebecca Adelman. She is an assistant professor of media and communication studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
We talk with her, and with MaryAnne Golon, the Director of Photography for the Washington Post. She also has worked at Time magazine for more than 20 years, and worked in war zones as a young photographer.