The Touch of the Image: Affect and Materiality in Photojournalism of the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the ways in which humanitarian photographs of the Spanish Civil War by a range of international and Spanish photographers, male and female, touch spectators (emotionally and materially) in order to secure their support for the Republican cause. The distribution networks for these photographs are explained, together with the recycling of images, sometimes out of context. The visual analysis is informed by recourse to affect theory, with particular emphasis on the role of materiality in producing an impact on the spectator.