On the Photos of the Russian Ambassador’s Assassination in Ankara: Our Tweet Thread

The chilling murder of the Russian Ambassador in Ankara yesterday was a photographic event, as much as it was a serious political event. But the overlap between online and social media, visual culture, and war and terror is so complex, it’s actually hard to make sense of what we’re looking at.

How do you parse out the difference in these pictures, for example, between information, sensation, evidence, propaganda and witnessing? In the hours after the event, we had some thoughts and questions:

1/ If film analogies seem crass (Reservoir Dogs meets Saturday Night Fever, etc.) we relate to photos in terms of the cinematic #Ankara 📷@AP pic.twitter.com/pEff6cqRzW

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

2/ That it happened at photo exhibition adds whole new dimension to spectacle. Reframes “photograph as witness.” #Ankara

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

3/ Could we not use “iconic,” and could we not wait least 24 hrs before talk about how award winning photo is? #Ankara

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

4/ Takes perceptual war/visual front to the next level. It’s like war in a photo studio or clean room. #Ankara

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

5/ If pix on walls predictably tame, cruel twist on exhibition, “Russia Through Turks’ Eyes.” #Ankara

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

6/ How much was killing by SWAT cop just based on opportunity or (this day and age) to also make visual statement? #Ankara

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

7/ Given critique photos have played minimal role in #Syria, might this alter crisis in ways 1000s of rubble/refugee pix haven’t? #Ankara

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) December 19, 2016

We would also refer you to the first-hand account by photographer Burhan Ozbilici that was published by AP. Several of the facts speak to many of these questions.

(photo 1: Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press. caption:A man identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas holds up a gun after shooting Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. Shouting “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!” Altintas fatally shot Karlov in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibit. Police killed the assailant after a shootout. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) photo 2: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images. Caption: Andrey Karlov (front), the Russian ambassador to Ankara, lies on the floor next to his killer who still point his gun to people attending an art exhibition in Ankara, on December 19, 2016. A gunman crying “Aleppo” and “revenge” shot Karlov while he was visiting an art exhibition in Ankara on December 19, witnesses and media reports said. The Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency said the gunman had been “neutralised” in a police operation, without giving further details.