We are living in a visual world filled with images, but the visual isn’t only to be found in pictures. Words can also capture what we see. It is therefore through words and images that we can gain a sense of what is distinctively visual. Any playwright writing a play will see the scenes in his or her mind, but has to convey this in words so that a director can then translate the written play into a performance. The same process takes place in the mind of a photographer. The photographer’s job is to capture an idea using an image. This has to be created into something that will trigger an idea in the mind of the viewer. This process of connecting an image with an idea can be seen as being distinctively visual. To illustrate just how effective the distinctively visual can be in conveying distinctive experiences, I will be discussing two texts: the play, The Shoe-Horn Sonata by John Misto, and the photo, ‘Beirut Aftermath’, by Spencer Platt, winner of the 2007 World Press Photo. Interestingly, both texts deal with an aspect of war, and they both use the visual to engage the audience and to make them think about the impact of war.
Both texts attest to the power of war photography. John Misto wrote his play in 1996, with the clear purpose of drawing the attention of the Australian public to the forgotten heroes of World War II, the women. He was challenging the Australian government to officially acknowledge the women in war. Misto used war photos for his research but he also