The War We See

Hirah Azhar
  • 5.0 (1)
  • History
  • Biweekly

Hosted by historian Hirah Azhar, this podcast explores the fascinating story of war imagery, and how it has shaped public perceptions of conflict. Drawing on conversations with a wide range of guests - including researchers, curators/archivists, photojournalists, artists, and filmmakers - this podcast moves across time and media, unearthing the stories behind the images that have defined our understanding of war. The War We See offers a critical, urgent, and thought-provoking lens on the images that continue to shape scholarship and society. New episodes released every other Wednesday.

  1. 3d ago

    Is photography failing us or can it save us? The power of context, perspective, and innovative curation…with Fred Ritchin

    I’m joined by the very inspirational Fred Ritchin, whose work has been at the forefront of debates about photography and its future for more than four decades. Fred is Dean Emeritus of the International Center of Photography in New York, a former picture editor of the New York Times Magazine, and the author of several groundbreaking books, including After Photography, Bending the Frame, and, most recently, The Synthetic Eye: Photography Transformed in the Age of AI.   In this fascinating and thought-provoking conversation, Fred reflects on his long relationship with the medium of photography and photojournalism, particularly the significance of editorial choices in shaping how photographs are understood, and the importance of context for responsibly producing and disseminating images. We explore his longstanding argument that photography has struggled to adapt to the possibilities offered by new technologies, discussing his many innovative projects over the years, like Pixel Press, the Four Corners Project, and his most recent platform, The Fifth Corner, and the need to develop more creative and credible approaches to visual storytelling. We also consider the challenges and opportunities presented by AI-generated imagery, and how these emerging technologies might be used in ways that better serve society.   At the heart of our conversation is a compelling question: how can photography make the world a better place? Moving beyond conventional representations of conflict, we discuss the importance of photographing peace, encouraging greater curiosity about the world, and using images to cultivate understanding and tolerance. Ultimately, Fred offers a fascinating and incredibly refreshing perspective on how we might rethink photography's purpose and its potential to bring about positive change. Fred’s Substack: https://fredritchin.substack.com/ Fourth Corners Project: ⁠https://fourcornersproject.org/en/about/⁠ The Fifth Corner: https://thefifthcorner.org Fred’s latest book: https://www.thamesandhudson.com/products/the-synthetic-eye?srsltid=AYCX9vLJ8BrGIbeV5HAxBa5Ch_OylbR7fDnf3BlDwuD81TwUariu647g Fred’s selected images 1.     An AI image generated by Fred, using the Robert Capa-inspired prompt: “the photograph that would stop all wars”. The image can be seen here: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/the-looming-specter-of-artificially-generated-photographs   2.     Michal Hardoof-Raz’s 9/11 image of dust particles for Pixel Press. The image can be seen on Fred’s Substack (fourth image down): https://fredritchin.substack.com/p/responding-to-september-11?utm_source=publication-search   3.     A screenshot of the US President Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social on the capture of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela. The image can be seen here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/world/americas/maduro-photo-trump.html (and here)

    Is photography failing us or can it save us? The power of context, perspective, and innovative curation…with Fred Ritchin

  2. Oct 1

    Women, war photography, and the images we overlook…with Dr Pippa Oldfield

    In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Pippa Oldfield, a photography curator and historian specialising in gender and conflict. Pippa is Programme Consultant at Impressions Gallery, a not-for-profit centre for photography based in Bradford, and an Honorary Fellow at Teesside University, Middlesbrough. She has curated major exhibitions including Bringing the War Home, No Man’s Land: Women’s Photography and the First World War, and Lee Miller: A Life Less Ordinary. Pippa is the author of several influential books on war photography, including Photography and War (2019), and is currently working on an exciting new book investigating gender and photography in wartime that spans the American Civil War, the Mexican Revolution, and the Second World War. In our conversation, we explore how women have experienced and photographed war, the gendered constraints that have shaped their opportunities, and the enduring masculine archetype of the war photographer. We also ask a more fundamental question: what actually counts as ‘war photography’? Drawing on Pippa’s extensive experience working with a rich historical and cultural breadth of photographic sources, we discuss the decline of the iconic war photograph, and how the category can be expanded beyond the conventional battlefield image to include the home front, as well as everyday photographic practices. Pippa's website: https://pippaoldfield.myportfolio.com Pippa’s book Photography and War: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/photography-and-war Melanie Friend’s book The Home Front: https://www.dewilewis.com/products/the-home-front The exhibition No Man’s Land: Women’s Photography and the First World War  at Impressions Gallery: https://www.impressions-gallery.com/event/no-mans-land/ Photo links 1. Photo 1: Hawk T1 military trainer, Dawlish Air Show, Devon, 2010 - From the series The Home Front © Melanie Friend  https://melaniefriend.com/the-home-front (This photo is number eleven in the horizonal sequence of images)   2. Photo 2: Unidentified woman wearing mourning brooch and displaying framed image of unidentified soldier; Library of Congress; Hand coloured tintype.  https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.37192/   3. Photo 3: Mairi Chisholm, page spread from one of Mairi Chisholm’s photo-albums, undated. Courtesy of National Library of Scotland. Album: Photography and War, p.44; British Art Studies. https://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/08/no-mans-land (Figure 8, left hand side of the double-page spread)

    Women, war photography, and the images we overlook…with Dr Pippa Oldfield

  3. Jul 29

    Drone images of Mosul, photogrammetry, and the evolving aesthetics of war imagery...with Giles Price

    This week, I'm joined by photographer and artist Giles Price, whose work blends photography, machine vision technologies, and aerial imaging, encouraging viewers to view war from a completely unique perspective. In this fascinating conversation, we discuss Giles' own military experiences photographing the Gulf War and reflect on how technologies of seeing have transformed over the three decades since that war. We explore the increasingly blurred boundaries between photography, mapping, and machine vision through his drone and photogrammetry practice, considering how these technologies are reshaping the production as well as the interpretation of conflict imagery. At the centre of our conversation is Phantom Pro, Giles' remarkable long-term project examining the aftermath and reconstruction of Mosul following the battle to defeat the Islamic State. Drawing on thousands of aerial images captured by consumer drone technologies, the project offers a striking meditation on war, memory, and reconstruction, while evoking important questions about the relationship between photography and data in contemporary visual culture. We also discuss synthetic imagery, image authentication, and the challenges posed by AI-generated visuals at a moment when photographs can no longer be taken at face value. From the material realities of making images in conflict zones to the future of visual documentation itself, Giles offers a thoughtful and nuanced perspective on how emerging technologies are changing what it means to witness war through images. Phantom Pro has been selected to be shown at Impact Kyiv: War/Conflict Photography Forum in October: https://www.uhop.org.ua/forum   Giles’ website: https://www.gilesprice.com   Links to Giles’ selected photographs: https://sotonac-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/ha4g21_soton_ac_uk/IQB1s76mKqoFRINOHyxSzDJRAQUNlLPj573_RlqJel0mm8s?e=yjkxTX (The last photo discussed, of an FPV kill shot from the war in Ukraine, is not included due to its sensitive nature)

    Drone images of Mosul, photogrammetry, and the evolving aesthetics of war imagery...with Giles Price

  4. Jul 16

    Media framing of contemporary war, soldiers’ visual self-representation, and AI-generated war photos...with Professor Katy Parry

    For the first episode of a brand new season of The War We See, I'm joined by Dr Katy Parry, Professor of Media and Politics at the University of Leeds, whose research explores how conflict and politics are communicated, performed, and understood through visual culture. Katy's fascinating work on representations of war ranges from her enduring interest in media framing of military photography, as well as her incredibly varied work on the ways soldiers and military veterans represent themselves and are portrayed in popular media. In this insightful and wide-ranging conversation, we discuss British press coverage of the Iraq War, how military actors self-represent visually, and fast-moving developments in contemporary war imagery, including the arrival of AI-generated war visuals. Our conversation considers how visual representations do far more than depict war - they communicate key narratives, offer military actors a mode of expression, and influence what audiences believe they are seeing. Links to Katy’s selected photographs (in order of discussion): 1. DALL-E 3 AI-generated image in response to the ‘create an image of a refugee’ prompt: https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/5a3e63d4-8843-4144-a2a9-7fe94c61d960/Chap3%20Parry%20Aiello%20AAM%20version%20War%20Faces.pdf [p.20]. 2. 'Britain's Camp Bastion Shame', front page of the i on Saturday, 10 May 2014: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Front-page-of-the-i-on-Saturday-10-May-2014-Front-page-image-reproduced-here-with-kind_fig1_310612743 3. Abduljalil Abdulhassam watches as his grand daughter Miram, aged 12, holds a picture of her missing father Yassim in Shuhaba, southern Iraq. Dan Chung/Guardian/MOD Pool: https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/noartistknown/iraqi-abduljalil-abdulhassam-watches-as-his-granddaughter-holds-picture-of-her-missing-father-near/photograph/asset/8238742

    Media framing of contemporary war, soldiers’ visual self-representation, and AI-generated war photos...with Professor Katy Parry

  5. Season 2 Trailer

    Season 2 Trailer

    The War We See is back! First episode is out on 15 July, with new episodes out fortnightly.

    Season 2 Trailer

  6. Feb 27

    The War We See: Reflections & Unheard Moments

    As this inaugural series of The War We See comes to a close, this episode offers a moment to pause and reflect. I look back on the conversations that have shaped this first series: the themes that emerged, the questions that still linger in mind, and what I’ve learned from listening closely to those documenting and studying the visuals of conflict. Alongside these reflections, I’m sharing three previously unheard snippets from past conversations - moments that didn’t make the original episodes but offer fresh insight, nuance, and perspective. These excerpts deepen the stories the podcast has been exploring and highlight the complexity at the heart of how we understand war through its imagery.   The War We See will be going on a brief hiatus before returning for a brand new series featuring new guests and exciting new conversations. Thank you for listening, sharing, and engaging so thoughtfully with this first chapter. The conversation is far from over, and I look forward to returning soon with new voices and new stories.

  7. Feb 4

    Artistic resistance and the visuality of aerial imperial violence …with David Birkin (Part Two)

    This episode is the second half of my fascinating conversation with David Birkin, artist, writer, and Senior Lecturer in Photography at the London College of Communication (University of the Arts London). In Part II, we discuss Visible Justice, the wonderful transdisciplinary network David and his colleague Max Houghton co-founded in 2018 at the University of the Arts London. The Visible Justice research hub brings together practitioners and thinkers from across art, activism, journalism, photography, film, writing, and human rights law who engage critically with the relationship between visual culture and social justice, creating spaces for collaboration beyond disciplinary boundaries. We also talk about David’s selected three images, drawn from his doctoral research as well more recent imagery that has resonated powerfully with him. As with the previous episode, the themes of imperial violence and visual resistance continue to dominate our conversation, with David’s unique and refreshing perspectives offering a powerfully hopeful conclusion to the discussion. Visible Justice: https://www.visible-justice.org David’s website: https://lnkd.in/eqavBv9Q   Note: This conversation was recorded before the ceasefire in Gaza in October 2025. However, it is important to point out that the ceasefire has done very little to ease the suffering of Palestinians, which continues largely unabated and without accountability.   Links to David’s selected photos: 1.     Photograph from the report of the damage done to the British Aerospace Hawk jet in 1996 by the Ploughshares Four (Seeds of Hope East Timor Ploughshares Group): https://for-peace.maydayrooms.org/seeds-of-hope-ploughshares/9/ (see full collection for more photographs).   2.     David’s Instagram post with the video of a US military aircraft taking off from Kabul Airport, August 2021: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSqN-Ylo98s/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==   3.     Protesters demonstrate in support of 'Palestine Action', organised by the Defend Our Juries group, in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in London, July 5, 2025. Jeff Moore, AP: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/people-take-part-in-a-protest-in-support-of-palestine-news-photo/2222966116

    Artistic resistance and the visuality of aerial imperial violence …with David Birkin (Part Two)

  8. Jan 28

    Artistic resistance and the visuality of aerial imperial violence …with David Birkin (Part One)

    This is Part One of a very special two-part episode with David Birkin, artist, writer, Senior Lecturer in Photography at the London College of Communication (University of the Arts London) and currently, a Visiting Fellow in Art History at the University of Cambridge. David is known for a wide-ranging body of photography-led installations and large-scale visual performances that confront state violence and imperial power, while also enacting forms of creative resistance to them. In a conversation that is as emotionally resonant as it is captivating, we explore his practice and the questions that shape it: how images circulate power, how visual culture sustains imperial violence, and how art can intervene in these processes. We also discuss his ongoing doctoral research into histories of resistance and disarmament in the British imperial context — what he brilliantly describes as tracing “the history of the imperial through the lens of the aerial” — and consider its urgent relevance today, amid the genocide in Gaza and ongoing violence elsewhere in the world. David is a true creative, a very exciting scholar, and a committed advocate for social justice, whose work reminds us that images of war are never neutral and that visual representations of violence are always bound up with questions of power, responsibility, and justice.   Part Two is out next week, featuring a discussion of David’s three selected images.   David’s website: https://www.davidbirkin.net   Notes 1. This conversation was recorded before the ceasefire in Gaza in October 2025.  2. David's selected images will be discussed in Part Two of this conversation, posted next week, so the images will be linked then.

    Artistic resistance and the visuality of aerial imperial violence …with David Birkin (Part One)
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About

Hosted by historian Hirah Azhar, this podcast explores the fascinating story of war imagery, and how it has shaped public perceptions of conflict. Drawing on conversations with a wide range of guests - including researchers, curators/archivists, photojournalists, artists, and filmmakers - this podcast moves across time and media, unearthing the stories behind the images that have defined our understanding of war. The War We See offers a critical, urgent, and thought-provoking lens on the images that continue to shape scholarship and society. New episodes released every other Wednesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Hirah Azhar
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Hirah Azhar
  • Show Website
    The War We See

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