Memory of Fire: Images of War and the War of Images

Edited by Julian Stallabrass

Memory of Fire is a visual, theoretical and historical resource about the photography of war, and how images are used as instruments of war. It comprises essays and interviews by prominent theorists, artists and photographers and covers the urgent issues of the depiction of war, the use of images of war by the media, various forms of censorship, the military as a PR and image-producing machine, the circulation of unofficial images and the impact of the digital mediascape.

This richly illustrated book draws on content gathered for the 2008 Brighton Photo Biennial, curated by the book’s editor Julian Stallabrass, supplemented with commissioned texts and interviews. Covering a range of twentieth-century war photography from the Russian Revolution to current wars, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, many types of images are illustrated and analysed, from large-scale museum photography and artist installations, through photojournalism and official army propaganda, through to amateur images made by soldiers.

Essays include by Coco Fusco, Sarah James and Julian Stallabrass
Interviews with Broomberg and Chanarin, Philip Jones Griffiths, Geert Van Kesteren and Trevor Paglen
Illustrations by Simon Norfolk, Paul Seawright, Thomas Hirschhorn, Don McCullin, Tim Page, Ashley Gilbertson, Susan Meiselas, Sebastiao Salgado, Stephanie Sinclair, and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.

Purchase the book here
Inspection Copies here

Click here to watch a video of Julian Stallabrass
discussing Memory of Fire, it’s importance and the
challenges he faced as its editor.