Traces and Omens: Photography and the Traces of Time
The following is exceprted and adapted from the
essay Homeland Security which accompanied these
images in the Traces and Omens exhibition.
"Opinions are formed in a process of open discussion and public debate, and where no opportunity for the forming of opinions exists, there may be moods—moods of the masses and moods of individuals, the later no less fickle and unreliable than the former —but no opinion."
Hannah Arendt
Fear: The New World Order
The March Toward Civilian Casualties.
Targeting civilians is not a new phenomenon, however, in recent years it has become 'the face' of modern warfare. The tactical use
of targeting civilians has grown substantially as has the prevelence of 'collateral' deaths. As the traditional battlefield has erroded, civilians
have taken the brunt of this shifted paradigm. In conflict after conflict, civilians are dying proportionally in greater numbers to military personnel than ever before.
War, as it was known in the first half of the 20th C., with large armies facing off, "mano a mano," seems to be a relic. Current skirmishes have taken on an asymetrical character. As traditional armies have an increased difficulty in finding "hard targets" among a dematerialized insurgent, the soft target, hidden among civilian enclaves, increasingly is the one sought out. The euphemistic metaphor to 'surgically strike,' as in excising a cancer, is used but, as we know, a war on cancer inevitably leaves a body ravaged.
For those without power, it makes little sense to strike directly against a well defended opponet, so, 'softer' targets are sought. Targeting civilian populations has no moral basis. It exploits pre-existing ethnic, religious and class hatreds, exciting passions, prejudice and fear.
– / back to books
Terror: A State of Overwhelming Fear.
Terror is an overwhelming state of fear. It is immaterial; anticipatory. An
emotional condition formed in reaction to an imagined harm. Fear / terror may be
set off by real events, but they themselves are primitive, precognitive
reactions to fantasized, anticipated outcomes. They are not 'true' or 'reasonable' reactions since the threat is imagined. In real situations of imminent danger, so-called "fight or flight" responses are evoked. Here, physiological and psychological autonomic reactions mobilize the body against perceived threats. Response to pain is diminished and sweat is excreted
in an attempt to cool an overheated and exhausted body, and makes it slippery in case of capture. One scans and
(almost unthinkingly) analyzes the environment
for threats and escape
routes. Adrenaline flows in preparation of intense physical exertion.
This primitive state bypasses rational thinking. Truly an animal's response. But do animals really respond in such a manner? Should we not view fear and terror as non-rational
emotional components set off by threats impossible to be dealt with cognitively?
While a "fight or flight" response may be useful in situations of immediate danger, generalized fear and terror serves no
protective purpose whatsoever in everyday situations.
Fear and terror then, seems to be a narcissistic response to change which undermines thought
processes—replacing them with reactive and repetitive imaginative fantasies. Fear destroys
any real relationship events by isolating one in a repetitive psychotic
moment. It distorts available options for action and allows irrational impulses
to interfere with rational thinking. As our minds become fixated on imagined
dangers, we become unable to thoughtfully consider the past, unable to evaluate
the present and unable to rationally plan for the future. As cognitive
and rational facilities diminish, we are easily swayed by emotions
and become less reflective and circumspect. We construct physical and
mental bulwarks against imagined harm—further isolating ourselves. Our illusory “security”
prevents us from interacting or thoughtfully engaging in a diversity of
possible experience, further impoverishing us. We turn away from the world. Ultimately the price we pay for
this “security” is
the inability to create the social bonds we need for personal development
and societal cohesion. The isolation that results from terror also has further
consequences. We stay infantilized by the desires we nurture in our isolation.
And in our isolation we forget. We forget the true nature of freedom, the responsibility
that informs our humanity, which allows us to make educated choices based on thoughtful analysis rather than reactive fears and desires. We forget that to truly live we must become a part of a world that lies not in our fantasies or fears
or desires, but in a world of continual discovery and continued outreach. Fear and terror blinds us to the truth that we are the inheritors of a legacy created by people engaged in the workings of the world, not in its domination, and certainly not while isolated. We must be conscious of the
fact that while in a state of fear we are susceptible to those who exploit
fear to enhance their own political and economic powers. Fear reverts us to a society of
amnesiacs—of a society without a past or future—ahistorical reactive automatons, ignorant to the possibilities of our lives or the legacies we've inherited. Shut down from an engagement with the world
we would, arguably, do more damage to ourselves and our society while in a state of terror than any real physical
act of terrorism could ever evince. 
– / back to books