That was my first thought after viewing Lee Miller’s photography from the World War II concentration camp in Buchenwald, Germany. Lee Miller was an American model-turned-photojournalist who worked as the official war photographer for Vogue magazine during WWII. After the war and throughout the rest of her life, she suffered from episodes of severe depression, which was later diagnosed as post-traumatic stress syndrome. This is not surprising at all considering what she must have witnessed during her time as a war photographer. Some of the photos, including this one shown on page 68 of our textbook, are almost too painful to look at.
It’s hard to fathom that images this horrible can even be real. Yet when you look at them, they communicate more than would ever be possible with just words. Lee Miller's photographs from the Holocaust epitomize the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words."
Photography is one art form that I believe can be appreciated by anyone. Although photos can be manipulated and used for bad intentions, there’s no denying the content of a pure, un-altered photograph. It’s an art form that usually doesn't require a lot of analyzing—the truth is right there before our eyes.
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