Film archives, combatant photography, ISIS photo-propaganda, and the UK’s first exhibition on sexual violence in conflict…with Helen Upcraft

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The War We See

Hirah Azhar

5 episodes

1 week ago

Hosted by historian Hirah Azhar, this podcast explores the fascinating story of war imagery, and how it has shaped public perceptions of conflict. Drawing on conversations with a wide range of guests - including researchers, curators/archivists, photojournalists, artists, and filmmakers - this podcast moves across time and media, unearthing the stories behind the images that have defined our understanding of war. The War We See offers a critical, urgent, and thought-provoking lens on the images that continue to shape scholarship and society. New episodes released every other Wednesday.

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Film archives, combatant photography, ISIS photo-propaganda, and the UK’s first exhibition on sexual violence in conflict…with Helen Upcraft

The War We See

1 hour 13 minutes 23 seconds

1 month ago

Film archives, combatant photography, ISIS photo-propaganda, and the UK’s first exhibition on sexual violence in conflict…with Helen Upcraft

**Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of graphic violence in one small section, specifically from minute 43 to minute 44, about some ISIS images, which depict scenes of extreme violence**

Imperial War Museum (IWM) Curator Helen Upcraft joins me for a conversation about her work in the museum’s film archives, including the experience of working on Peter Jackson’s First World War documentary They Shall Not Grow Old (2018); a wide-ranging discussion of key curatorial practices around visual material and the challenges of born-digital content; the increasing number of combatant photographs in the IWM’s collections; the selection and archiving of sensitive content, such as the IWM’s collection of born-digital Islamic State images; and the immense importance of the IWM’s fantastic ongoing exhibition on sexual violence in conflict, of which Helen is the lead curator.

"Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict" is on at the Imperial War Museum in London and runs to 2 November 2025: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/unsilenced-sexual-violence-in-conflict

Link to Helen’s selected images:

https://sotonac-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/ha4g21_soton_ac_uk/EZS5RqckqahDoUoch6aCzosBdh2RCk8Lgt40ocZP_FDCWQ?e=aQIB7A