I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about images in the media. Which images work best with which articles? What is the best way to capture people’s attention? It led me to a number of different Google searches and when looking at the related images it was hard not to look away.
It seems to me that a lot of people in this world are after the shock factor! They want to put an image out there that is out of the norm and take people out of their comfort zones. A great example of this is the current situation within the music industry , with artists speaking out about the sexual images that seem to now be an interweaved part of that world. By putting out shocking music videos (with each artist trying to outdo the competition) whether it’s for the right or wrong reasons they are getting the publicity. Rihanna’s latest music video has been banned after just 10 minutes of being online! But you know what they say – all publicity is good publicity, it already has over 60 million views on YouTube since October 5th 2013.
So shocking images seem to work well when it comes to sex selling. But what about when it comes to hard-hitting journalism? Do the accompanying images need to be shocking to drive the message home?
Honestly I’m still unsure as to where I stand on this debate. I can’t get my head around witnessing a tragedy or to see any person suffering and my initial reaction to be to pull out my phone and capture the image. But the other half of me toys with the notion that maybe we need those images to shock and disturb us so we can see the reality of the world.
Take a look at this article and let me know your thoughts on controversial images.
