Ranft � "1"Marie Muschalek"

Violence - Essay"

Gregor P. Ranft"

Matrikel Nr.: 380/3839"

Word count without quotes and footnotes: 2.710"

""After the Campaign"

A faux Amnesty International campaign under critical reflection"

"" About a week ago, Amnesty International published their annual report on torture. Their

findings uncovered a global increase of torturous methods to obtain informations from prisoners as

well as captivated civilians, without any right of defense or accusations. Similarly shocking seemed

a campaign called “After the Olympic Games”, bearing the Amnesty tone of logo and font, as well

as its typical simplicity. The campaign circulated through the internet in late 2008 and won multiple

Cannes awards, the most prestigious in the advertising microcosm. While pretending to be an

Amnesty International campaign, the human rights organization quickly denied any involvement

and distanced itself from the photos and campaign’s claim. The advertising agency responsible for

the motives stated that a single employee worked pro-bono on the campaign, which was and

would have never accepted by higher instances of the agency. Without regard to Amnesty’s denial,

the campaign rippled through the internet and social media streams. Something seemed highly

alluring about its content. Stating as a claim “After the Olympic Games, The Fight for Human

Rights must go on,” one might wonder what has happened to Amnesty. Why does a global

organization fighting for human rights since decades distance itself from a viral, awarded and

seemingly successful campaign? This essay will critically reflect on one of the campaign’s

photographs considering Susan Sontag's book “Regarding the Pain of Others” and Randall Collins

“Violence: A micro-sociological Theory.” While the campaign is successfully using shock to agitate

Ranft � "2"the recipient, it fails to provide informations or authenticity and to channel the recipients

compassion. This amplifies towards a possible horror fatigue. Therefore, despite just intentions,

this photo advertising could have potentially harmed Amnesty International’s goal of eradicating

torture in the world. Regarding the limitations of this essay it is to say that only a single motive of

the campaign and its possible effects are analyzed. Secondly, due to word constraints, this essay

does not thoroughly discuss the vocabulary it uses in order to say something and expects an

arguably high common conception of the meaning of some words. Whenever highly discuss-worthy

words are touched, however, footnotes are given to their interpretation. Third, Susan Sontag wrote

a book called “Regarding the Torture of Others,” which indeed seems to be a perfect fit to the

issue. However, this essay uses her former book, as it tries to develop an independent view on the

display of torture in advertising. "

"

" Fig 1!

" I click on a link and the “After The Olympics” campaign image (Fig 1.) opens in full screen.

Being in the fortress of my own four walls, nothing but the warmness of my room protects me from

Ranft � "3"the sight of horror that this scene of torture tries to convey. The image itself displays three males,

photographed from low angle right over the waterline, inside a swimming hall. Two of the

individuals are guardsmen, dressed in possible police uniforms. Both wear guns and besides

having abandoned their hats on either side of the scene, their attire and haircuts are tidy and ’in

order’. While the left guard seems to be on watch, the first holds an individual - supposedly a

“suspect” - by his hair, violently lifting him out of the water. He seemed to have simulated drowning

the suspect seconds ago (commonly known as the torture method called “water-boarding”). The

half naked suspect is covered with injuries that seem very recent and possibly connected to former

torture. He is laying flat on the pool’s verge, being forced to the lowest - most inferior - position of

all three displayed individuals. His hands cuffed and his head’s hair grabbed by the second guard,

indications of possible escape or appeasement of the situation are absent. The suspect is lean,

worn down, outnumbered and suffers severe torture, which is expressed by his agonizing outcry.

His face is covered in water and a small drip of blood floats right under the waterline in front of him.

The left guardsmen is in a watchful pose, yet covers his eyes with sunglasses. While his position is

upright, he kneels presumably on the suspect’s legs. Although being involved in a horrendous

scene, his body pose, his neutral face on the watch, his relaxed right hand and a lit cigarette

embody control over the situation. His left hand holds pincers, underlining his sinister attire, as he

does not have the cliché fighter physics. The second guardsman embodies the use of direct force.

His arm seems strong enough to fight any resistance of the suspect, as he pulls his head up. His

face seems expressionless, unmoved by the suspects agony. Yet, his eyes fixed on the suspects

head indicate a slight anger. To further underline the expressionlessness of the two guards both

have their mouthes shut in contrast to the suspect. The setting of the scene is an empty swim

stadium (to which the existence of stands are hinting). Above the three individuals a gigantic roof is

extending to the sparsely lit background. The stands are empty, and no indication for possible

bystanders are made besides the left guard’s pose. Further, no indications for a possible felony of

the suspect are made. No history of action despite the injuries on the suspects back and no time or

place can be derived from the photograph’s content. The photography itself is perfectly clean,

Ranft � "4"perfectly lit, surreal in its content and the photographer in no way addressed by any of the

individuals. This and the cliché hints towards the Beijing olympics, underline that we are spectators

of a staged torture reenactment phantasy, rather than an authentic scene. The shot in itself seems

all to perfect in its appearance and overlapping with the topic to be authentic. The claim is written

in capital letters in the lower right corner, stating “AFTER THE OLYMPIC GAMES, THE FIGHT

FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MUST GO ON. WWW.AMNESTY.COM.” It is next to AI’s official logo."

"" The campaign’s viral success in accordance with its appearance might be due to the

displayed violence’s allure in the photography. “It seems that the appetite for pictures showing

bodies in pain is as keen, almost as the desire for ones that show bodies naked.” writes Susan 1

Sontag. The photograph unites both mentioned worlds, with showing the suspects bear breast and

his expressions of pain. His head being focal point of motion and light in the photography, the 2

suspects face is the first thing we look on. His all to human expression of distress immediately

builds a connection towards him. While pain itself has a “difficulty of communication,” as Sontag 3

states, “A photography has only one language and is destined potentially for all.” So we may be 4

incapable of sensing pain’s exact dimensions by confronting us with such a photography. However,

there is a commonly shared language of photography, giving humans the mental warehouse to

connect with certain representations - like a fellow human being in distress - in an image. This

connection is additionally eased by the calmness a single frame image represents. “Still photos are

often better than videos for capturing the emotional aspects of violent interaction,” states Randall 5

Collins. Fittingly, the campaigns photography is not only a single frame representation of a torture

scene, it also abstains from mentioning any dimension of time through watches or the sky. Hence,

Sontag, p. 411

(arguably Sontag ascribed nakedness in this context to pornography. The photography of the campaign is not necessarily 2

pornographic, only in a slight BDSM manner.)

Sontag, p. 43

Sontag, p. 204

Collins, p. 65

Ranft � "5"the image becomes ’timeless’, further focussing the audience on the emotional and political

innuendos rather than the act as a factual process. "

"" These innuendos further amplify the photographies appeal. The tidy uniformed police

officials represent what Foucault described as (in his times) new and ever present inevitable

disciplining proxies of punishment. Seeing them in an abusing situation immediately agitates a 6

sensitive issue in western democratic cultures: that we are born among equals and no one is

lawfully allowed to diminish us in our legal rights, such as our physical integrity. As Collins states

“Good violence - which is not seen as violence at all, when it is carried out by authorized state

agents - is not subject to analysis since its part of normal social order.” Seeing such “Good 7

Violence” diminishing the only civilian in the photography is an unusual sight, agitating and alluring

in its effect. The second innuendo is surrounding the international focal point on sports and the

human rights situation in China surrounding the Beijing olympics. While some sports incorporate

violence, swimming is none of them. A good race between skilled swimmers presents

entertainment, but not through direct violence. From common conception this abstraction of the

entertaining sport by horror should push our attention away from the images content and to the

back button of our computers keyboard. However, Collins sees that “the image enables the viewer

to take the entertainment-audience attitude, not the horrified attitude that would occur with real

violence.” The violence becomes alluring because it is not really happening in front of our eyes. It

leaves us with the entertainment of “just the provocation: can you look at this?” "8

"" Besides an alluring effect, the photography provokes a genuine urge to do something about

human rights. Shock is the technique of choice for achieving this agitation in the campaign’s

motive. Sontag states “[…]for photographs to accuse, and possibly to alter conduct, they must

Foucault. p. 96

Collins, p. 27

Sontag, p. 418

Ranft � "6"shock”. But how does the campaign’s photography do so? Shock is defined by the Oxford English 9

Dictionary as “A sudden and disturbing impression on the mind or feelings; usually, one produced

by some unwelcome occurrence or perception, by pain, grief, or violent emotion […]; in weaker

sense, a thrill or start of surprise, or of suddenly excited feeling of any kind.” Sontag provided 10

only a superficial answer on her definition of shock, and how photographs are capable to do so,

when she wrote: “Photographs shock insofar as they show something novel.” While it is 11

unfortunate that she gave no deeper insight into the anatomy of shock and her definition of it, we 12

may assume that the OED definition is close to a common reception, which Sontag could have

shared. Following this definition shock is something that only occurs in the recipients mind and

cannot ascribed universally to the image. For some the campaigns photography might just not be

shocking. The intention of the agency behind the campaign clearly is shock. First, by presenting a

scene that would happen behind closed doors and is a representation of excessive violence

against a civilian. Second, the empty stands and absent observers underline hopelessness of the 13

civilian’s situation, amplifying possible emotional sympathy with the victims position and his 14

feelings. Third, by the graphic content of agony which can be found in the facial expression of the

civilian, blood which floats right under the water line as representation of physical harm, and the

reference to the torture tactic of water-boarding which got global attention through abuses in the

US military prison in Guantanamo Bay and the Iraqi prison under US military control in Abu Ghraib.

While the shock seems obvious as a used means, it is questionable to which ends."

"

Sontag, p.819

"shock, n.3". OED Online. March 2014. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/178402?10

rskey=kHmJwH&result=225&isAdvanced=true (accessed May 08, 2014).

Sontag, Susan. On photography. Macmillan, 1977.11

(at least in her book “Regarding the Pain of Others”)12

Wether the suspect is or is not a civilian cannot be stated clearly, however the cliché of an inferior suspect to state officials and the 13

abundance of further information leaves the audience with guessing in accordance to their common knowledge. This common knowledge to such a scene is a civilian abused by authorities.

“emotion” in the sense of OED’s definition of “any strong mental or instinctive feeling, as pleasure, grief, hope, fear, etc., deriving esp. 14

from one's circumstances, mood, or relationship with others.” Source: "emotion, n.". OED Online. March 2014. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/61249?rskey=MaQLae&result=1&isAdvanced=false (accessed May 09, 2014).

Ranft � "7"" Seeking for the purposes of the shocking campaign’s photography, especially the water-

boarding references to a globally shared tradition of torture are in line with Sontag’s statement that

“making suffering loom larger, by globalizing it, may spur people to feel they ought to “care”

more.” Sontag’s statement hints at the effect the shock is designed to provoke. But before finding 15

the motives purposes, a clarification on the recipient is needed. Presumably the archetypical

recipient of the “After the Olympic Games” motive is alone while seeing the images and of western

heritage. He very likely might be alone, as the campaign’s motives have been circulating through

the internet and were planned for print advertising. In both realms one receives such images

mostly in lone fashion. He very likely might be of western heritage as representing three males of 16

Chinese ethnicity in the act of torture would have led to an immediate ban of the campaign in

China. Further, the agency was French and the circulations appeared on multiplication websites in

the western world. In addition, the internet is frequented most from western citizens. So, being

alone and of western heritage, the recipient is thrown in the position of a watchmen and the only

individual not involved in the situation, with a background education on human rights making the

individual capable of identifying the ongoing abuse. To Sontag “The photographs are means of

making ’real’ matters that the privileged and the merely safe might prefer to ignore” . Accordingly, 17

besides the recipients backgrounds, the onlooker has no way of evading the photography. Even if

the screen is turned of, the image is capable of “haunting us”. Being haunted by a representation 18

of a global problem, the recipient seeks a way to catharsis, which might follow only through him

trying to change the status quo. Something the campaign itself commands with “The fight must go

on.” The end therefore is to motivate the recipient to help fighting torture globally."

"" Despite these good intentions, the campaign’s motive fails to inform us properly as it lacks

both content and authenticity. Information in this context is more important than an emotional

Sontag, p. 7915

The campaign’s image can also be watched in groups, or by an individual in close proximity to a group. It is less important for the 16

argument as the sinews reception of the image does in the end happen alone, no matter one’s surrounding.

Sontag, p. 717

Sontag, p. 8918

Ranft � "8"connection, as the latter in this example remains hollow. Sontag states “To set aside the sympathy

we extend to others beset by war and murderous politics for a reflection on how our privileges are

located on the same map as their suffering.” Although describing war photography, let us 19

compare this insight to the realm of advertising. Sincerely intelligent advertising for a brand that

has a tradition of lobbying for human rights should incorporate a level of self-reflection beyond

naive sympathy in order to induce genuine change. Sounding nice in theory, the appeal of images

and an emotional connection still bears this opportunity, but only if the photographed information is

authentic. In the “After the Olympics” campaign, all images are staged. The lightning, setup, 20

aesthetic angle and controlled frame are to perfect to not be identified as inauthentic from the first

split-second of reception. To Sontag “to photographic corroboration of the atrocities committed by

one’s own side, the standard response is that the pictures are a fabrication, that no such atrocity

ever took place.” In our case, the lack of authenticity to protocol torture after the Chinese 21

Olympics decays to a conglomerate of prejudices, uninformed assumptions and a racist them/us

dichotomy build to propel the recipients fight against torture. To Collins “Events are always

interpreted in terms of prevailing ideological categories”. So whilst being motivated on the surface,

the lack of information leaves us to become voyeurs of an ideology, rather than informed 22

advocates for change. "

"" Charging our emotions, even on such a superficial level, could still be of use for Amnesty’s

agenda. However, the opportunity to channel the recipients agitation is missed. When quoting

Sontag with “making suffering loom larger, by globalizing it, may spur people to feel they ought to

“care” more,” in the paragraph on possible ends of the shock effect, I used a mean trick. I ignored 23

Sontag, pp. 102-10319

Authentic as in: “Entitled to acceptance or belief, as being in accordance with fact, or as stating fact; reliable, trustworthy, of 20

established credit.” Source: "authentic, adj. and n.". OED Online. March 2014. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/13314?isAdvanced=false&result=1&rskey=6i5UQ9& (accessed May 16, 2014).

Sontag, p. 1121

Sontag p. 42 “the rest of us [unable to help the victim in the situation] are voyeurs, wether or not we mean to be.”22

Sontag, p. 7923

Ranft � "9"the second half of the sentence, which reads: “It also invites them to feel that the sufferings and

misfortunes are to vast, too irrevocable, too epic for be much changed by any local intervention.” 24

This second half indicates how a just application of an amplified shock effect still leads to the

feeling of being overwhelmed by the situation. In order to avoid such a feeling of being

overwhelmed, a clear channeling of a recipients agitation is necessary. As Sontag further states:

“Compassion is an unstoppable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers. The

question is what to do with the feelings that have been communicated.” Besides emotionally 25

charging, the prevalent form of channeling that occurs in the campaign’s swimming-pool motive is

through referring to the website “amnesty.com” and the Amnesty CI, which could be interpreted as

call to engage in one’s local Amnesty community. While the domain is wrong (it is amnesty.org), the

possible call to fight amongst Amnesty voluntaries is in itself undoubtedly justified. Yet, this call is

merely an assumption. It is neither clearly stated, as the claim “[…]the fight against torture must go

on”, can also be read as inwards facing, motivating Amnesty voluntaries that already fought, nor

can a connection to an Amnesty group be made with the wrong domain. Besides the claim, the

image itself does not imply forms to overcome torture, as it only presents the reproduced act.

Bearing the racial layer of Chinese agitators and Chinese suffering, the campaign never leaves the

level of accusation, rather than suggesting an open invitation for dialogue to overcome the

structures behind torture. The translation into action is missed, and chances are high that our

compassion indeed withers."

"" This withering bears the true danger of such advertising: horror fatigue. To Sontag “it is

because war, any war, doesn’t seem as if it can be stopped that people become less responsive to

the horrors.” Again, speaking about war photography, Sontag describes the phenomenon of 26

unresponsiveness to the horrors of war in a situation of powerlessness. To her “If one feels that

there is nothing “we” can do and nothing “they” can do either then one starts to get bored, cynical,

Ibid24

Sontag, p. 10125

Sontag p. 10226

Ranft � "10"apathetic.” As analyzed, the faux- Amnesty campaign is lacking suggestions of solutions, whilst 27

highly agitating, leading to withering compassion. Doing so repetitively, by campaigns as the

analyzed, can lead to a decreasing responsiveness towards such urges no matter how just they

appear. However, it is not that simple. As Sontag states “Habituation is not automatic, for images

obey different rules than real life.” The call for the dangers of such a horror fatigue might apply for 28

simulated pain and obvious ideals, that are repeated over and over again. Although Sontag

generalized this effect as applying to all images, the disappointment described by the lack of

authenticity and the danger of apathy that results from missing to channel the recipients

compassion is indicating that this positive effect might only apply to authentic photographies. As

the campaign’s motive lacks such authenticity and just channeling, the danger of horror fatigue is a

sincere threat. As Sontag concludes: “it is not necessarily better to be moved.” Amnesty 29

International’s advertising campaigns of the last years reflect this. Whenever showing dreadful

deeds, the realm of reality is left, and reality highly abstracted, to leave room for phantasy. If reality

is shown, Amnesty uses authentic imagery with an invitation to join the fight. Their latest campaign

called “Stop Torture” is presented in combination with a highly informative annual report on 30

torture and a website that invites to immediate action. As this essay surrounds the faux-campaign

of “After the Olympics,” this excursion is not an extensive analysis of Amnesty International’s usual

style of campaign making. However, this short excursion underlines that Amnesty International is

usually interested in informing way beyond the superficial shock in their advertisings, as it is

treating the problem of horror fatigue and misguided compassion with high responsibility."

"" The highly awarded, yet likely faux Amnesty International campaign “After the Olympic

Games” motive of three men in the act of torture fails to penetrate the superficial plane of

emotional agitation in order to inform and channel the recipient in an adequate fashion, bearing the

Ibid27

Sontag, p. 8228

Sontag, p. 10229

"Stop Torture Campaign." Amnesty International. <http://www.amnesty.org/en/stoptorture> (accessed May 12, 2014).30

Ranft � "11"danger to lead to a fatigue of the recipients interest to fight for human rights. The campaign’s

motive is effective in provoking compassion for victims of torture, as well as the issue of authorities

abusing their rights. Through the effect of shock, the campaign is attention grabbing enough to

confront the recipient with the abuse of human rights. However, these good intentions are flawed

as the image relies on clichés and racial innuendos, rather than information and authenticity. This

leads to an atmosphere of accusations rather than dialogue. In itself authenticity or the value of

information is not absolutely necessary to emotionally charge the recipients in order to reach the

just end of motivating him to join the international fight against torture. An aim, Amnesty

international would stand behind. However, as the compassion is neither channeled nor pointed in

the right direction, it is prone to wither. Having gained no advantage for the fight against torture

through the advertising, what is left is a decoy flare of violence, superficial in its essence, which

might lead to apathy and further amplifying a horror fatigue. The consequence is an aggravated

situation for Amnesty International’s advertising for their important fight against torture. To distance

themselves from such advertising therefore seems highly comprehensible."

"""List of References"

"1. Sontag | Sontag, Susan. Regarding the pain of others. No. 1. PUF, 2003.""2. Collins | Collins, Randall. Violence: A micro-sociological theory. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2009.""3. Foucault | Foucault, Michel. Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Random House LLC, 1977.""4. Fig 1. | TWBA Paris. Erik Vervroegen, Benoit Leroux, Philippe Taroux, Marc Gouby, Barbara Chevalier. AFTER THE OLYMPIC GAMES, THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MUST GO ON AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. Advertising. Swimming Hall Motive. TWBA Paris, Paris, France, 2008. <http://b0wie.s3.amazonaws.com/media/print/AmnestyInternationalafterol2.jpg> (accessed May 08, 2014).""5. Stop Torture Campaign | "Stop Torture Campaign." Amnesty International. <http://www.amnesty.org/en/stoptorture> (accessed May 12, 2014).