Photographic narrative as a factor in overcoming witness trauma

Abstract

The research aims to explore the multifunctional potential of photography in overcoming the traumatic experience of witnessing violence and brutality. The paper presents how photography can be used in rehabilitation practices for those who have lived through war. It outlines the tendencies of the modern digital information environment (cross-media, interactivity) that enhance the "restorative" functions of photography in overcoming psycho-emotional and socio-cultural crisis reactions. It has been found that photography’s narrative nature can enhance the viewer’s experience of interacting with their emotions and memories, while also providing a therapeutic effect by mitigating the pain of reflecting on cruelty. The article uses examples of war-related content to demonstrate how storytelling technology can provide a variety of tools for audience participation in the development of collective restorative experiences, particularly through photographic flash mobs. The structural-functional method was used to work with factual material and identify the role of war photography in the discourse of trauma/post-trauma, clarifying its therapeutic potential. It is well-established that photographs can serve as a means of recording and providing evidence of a crime, facilitating the expression of collective identity and social cohesion. Similarly, the sharing of unprofessional, user-generated visual content on social media can be seen as a form of testimony that elicits strong public reactions. Photography plays a key role in helping people to go through the grieving process by perpetuating and honouring the dead, constructing ‘places of memory’ and ‘portraits of grief’. The study aims to determine the role of photography in shaping the visual environment, in which the act of ‘seeing’ constructs a system of restorative practices to overcome the negative psycho-emotional consequences of traumatic events provoked by war.