Chapter 2 – The Conflict of Images is the second chapter of a trilogy assessing the status and stance of present-day documentary photography. The volume revolves around three case studies, acting as the starting point for a deeper reflection on the possibility for documentary photography to function independently of aesthetic judgement.

Moving from the assumption that images of war fight a battle on two fronts – content wise they depict violence, conceptually they make visible the intestine war between the medium and the message - the volume zooms in on the work of Raphaël Dallaporta, Giorgio Di Noto and Monica Haller, respectively concerned with aestheticisation, immediacy and therapy.

Whether contemporary documentary photography is able to give back an accurate indexicality of today’s polarised reality or whether its constant increase in quantity only contributes to an inexorable decrease in quality, is a question central to the volume.