Talk to explore whether it is necessary to view images of violence

“The Changing Face of Photojournalism, The Changing Face of War” is the topic of a talk being given on Thursday, Dec. 9, by Susie Linfield, associate professor of journalism and director of the Cultural Reporting and Criticism Program at New York University.

Her talk, sponsored by the Yale Journalism Initiative, will take place at 4 p.m. in the master’s house of Pierson College, 251 Park St. It is free and open to the public.

Linfield is the author of the 2010 book “The Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence,” in which she argues that viewing photographs of war, torture, mutilation and death — and seeing the people in them — is an ethically and politically necessary act that connects humans to their history of violence and capacity for cruelty.

She was a book critic for the Los Angeles Times Book Review for six years and has written for a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times, the Washington Post Book World, the Boston Review, the Village Voice, Dissent and The Nation. She was formerly editor in chief of American Film, deputy editor of the Village Voice and arts editor of the Washington Post.