A Look at Conflict Photography

A journalist climbs out of the hole where toppled dictator Saddam Hussein was captured in Ad Dawr. Iraq’s defeated leader raised his arms out of his “rat hole” and said he was Saddam Hussein and that he wanted to negotiate. Iraq, December 15, 2003. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

This Means War: A Look at Conflict Photography -- Richard Lacayo, Time

“War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,” is a huge, tough-minded and very moving new show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It lays out the ways cameras have been put to use during 165 years of world wars, undeclared hostilities and barely organized fang baring. Cameras turn out to be the transformer tools of warfare, adaptable as battlefield aids for reconnaissance and surveillance, as peerless instruments of propaganda and, above all, as a means to witness the atrocious facts of war. You may not be able to end war with a camera, but you can do a lot of useful things with one — even tell the truth.

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My Comment: An impressive collection of photos.

The Best Of Military Photography

U.S. Army Parachute Team members, Sgt. 1st Class John Berentis, from Yuma, Ariz., and Staff Sgt. Laura Dickmeyer, from Abilene, Texas, assess the wind conditions aloft prior to their pre-game jump into FedEx field for the Army vs. Navy game. This is the first time in the game’s 120-year history that the teams have played in the DC region. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Clifford L. H. Davis

WNU Editor: A selection of photographs nominated for the Military Photographer of the Year 2011. The gallery starts here.

Wreck Diving the Mysterious Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon [33 PICS]

Diver gh0stdot captured amazing underwater images in the ghostly wreckage. This is a light tank on the deck of the San Francisco Maru at about 50m depth in Truk Lagoon. Photo #1 by © gh0stdot

Wreck Diving The Mysterious Ghost Fleet Of Truk Lagoon [33 PICS] -- Love These Pics

Truk Lagoon, known as Chuuk – a group of tropical paradise islands in the Federal States of Micronesia – offers adrenaline-junky scuba divers a cool yet creepy underwater adventure in shark-infested Pacific waters while wreck diving the mysterious Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. More than 50 major shipwrecks from WWII litter the seabed, making the undersea wonder of the world the best shipwreck diving destination on the globe. In 1944, Americans launched Operation Hailstone, which has been called the Japanese Pearl Harbor, and the bombardment lasted for three days. The attack wiped out 60 ships and 275 airplanes, sinking them to the bottom of the lagoon, so that now it is the biggest ship graveyard in the world. Most of the wrecks were left untouched for nearly 25 years since people feared setting off the thousands of sunken bombs. Many of the shipwrecks in the scuba diving paradise have full cargo holds full of fighter aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, railroad cars, motorcycles, torpedoes, mines, bombs, boxes of munitions, radios, thousands of various weapons, human remains, and other artifacts. More than 3,000 people were thought to have been killed and some divers swear that the wrecks in Truk Lagoon are haunted. Destination Truth conducted an underwater ghost hunting expedition in Truk Lagoon. While diving at the Hoki Maru, the divers recorded sounds of running engines in the cargo hold full of trucks. Here’s a virtual adventure with wreck divers who explored and photographed the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. This is underwater awesomeness! We love these pics! [33 Photos]

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My Comment: Beautiful.

Hat Tip: Good Shit

Combat Camera: The Year's Best Military Photography.

U.S. and Afghan soldiers load onto a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a vehicle interdiction as part of Operation Pranoo Verbena in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, March 16, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel Schroeder

WNU Editor: An incredible collection of pictures. The gallery starts here.