Conflict, Time, Photography - reviews of 'haunting' Tate show
'Innovative' photo show traces the brutal impact and lasting cost of war over 150 years

What you need to know
A new photography exhibition, Conflict, Time, Photography, has opened today at Tate Modern, London. The exhibition traces 150 years of war photography, from the American civil war and WW1 to Iraq and Afghanistan.
This exhibition organises its images according to the amount of time that has elapsed between the conflict and when the picture was taken, so there are photographs taken moments, weeks, months or even decades after conflicts. It includes images from the Archive of Modern Conflict, photojournalism by Don McCullin, Bill Brandt and Lee Miller, as well as conceptual photo art by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin. Runs until 15 March.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What the critics like
This moving exhibition is not about photojournalism, but "about remembrance" – about how artists and societies come to terms with the atrocities and traumas of the past, says Alastair Sooke in the Daily Telegraph. These poetic images elicit an eerie sensation that does not resort to mawkishness, but delivers a subtler and more haunting evocation of the past.
This innovative show "drags your imagination into uncomfortable territories" where almost everything is haunted by war's relentless human cost, says Ben Luke in the Evening Standard. It's a sonorous and deeply affecting exhibition that makes a powerful statement about photography and memory.
The images from the Archive of Modern Conflict mix the eccentric with the perplexing and are "alive with reminders of how timeless the patterns of war are", says Tom Coghlan in The Times. They are deliberately contrary and questioning of war photography's tradition of the heroic, bestial and bloody.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
What they don't like
"There is little relief from the stark depictions of this exhibition", which focuses on the long-term effects – the scars – of conflict, says Karen Wright in The Independent. But it's an exhibition to linger in, chew upon, contemplate. "I left feeling I know more about my fellow men and women, and perhaps myself, through my responses".
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Why photo booths are enjoying a revival
In The Spotlight It’s 100 years since it first appeared, but the photo booth is far from an analogue relic
-
Lee Miller at the Tate: a ‘sexy yet devastating’ show
The Week Recommends The ‘revelatory’ exhibition tells the photographer’s story ‘through her own impeccable eye’
-
Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson
The Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
-
Resistance: 'compelling' show captures a century of protest
The Week Recommends Turner prizewinner Steve McQueen curates 'fascinating' photography exhibition in Margate
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptation
The Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'
The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'
The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff Goldblum
The Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'