--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was as big a reaction after the…" description: "\"There was as big a reaction after the revelations about Assad's chemical weapons. Nevertheless, that photograph did strike a singular chord. Which lead..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/stuart-franklin-20575_chemical-weapons_there-was-as-big-a-reaction-after-the-re_2592627.jpg" --- # There was as big a reaction after the revelations about… ![“There was as big a reaction after the revelations about Assad's chemical weapons. Nevertheless, that photograph did strike a singular chord. Which leads us to a larger fact: we don't understand why certain photographs create such an upheaval in one's soul. You look at them and go, "Oh my gosh."…” quote by Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/stuart-franklin-20575_chemical-weapons_there-was-as-big-a-reaction-after-the-re_2592627.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/stuart-franklin-20575_chemical-weapons_there-was-as-big-a-reaction-after-the-re_2592627.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f89/stuart-franklin-20575_chemical-weapons_there-was-as-big-a-reaction-after-the-re_2592627.jpg) > “There was as big a reaction after the revelations about Assad's chemical weapons. Nevertheless, that photograph did strike a singular chord. Which leads us to a larger fact: we don't understand why certain photographs create such an upheaval in one's soul. You look at them and go, "Oh my gosh." And that doesn't happen with television. It's unique to photography. Photographs are unique in that they are a frame abstracted out of reality, out of, in this case, a civil war. A single event can carry so much weight. And that is extraordinary.” [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on why certain photographs provoke profound emotional reactions, unlike other media, because they capture abstracted reality that resonates deeply. **In simple terms:** Photos can move us more than TV. Key Takeaway Recognize and study impactful images. Themes art perception emotion media photography war truth Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type essay analytical When to use this quote - museum curation - photojournalism training - educational curricula - media analysis Key Concepts visual rhetoric psychology of awe historical memory Questions to Reflect On - What makes a photograph unforgettable? - How can visual media shape collective memory? A Different Perspective Not all images have the same impact; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain Photographs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain-photographs-1873211/) [Chemical weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemical-weapons/) [Civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) [Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary/) [Oh my gosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oh-my-gosh/) [Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph/) [Photographs Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs-create-1698390/) [Photographs Unique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs-unique-1873212/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Revelations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelations/) [Revelations Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelations-assad-1873210/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Unique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unique/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Weapons Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons-photograph-1873213/) ## Related quotes > [It is my belief that the most challenging photographs are those that create a tension between what we refer to as the real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ballen/it-is-my-belief-that-the-most-challenging-photographs-are-those-that/) [Roger Ballen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ballen/) > [I come to this debate, Mr. Speaker, as one at the end of 10 years in office on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pelosi/i-come-to-this-debate-mr-speaker-as-one-at-the-end-of-10-years-in/) [Nancy Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pelosi/) > [ Actually, he gave false evidence \[of chemical weapons\]. In this case,\[John\] Kerry didn't even present any evidence. He talked "we have evidence" and he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/actually-he-gave-false-evidence-of-chemical-weapons-in-this-case-john/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [Not all G8 members take the view that chemical weapons were in fact used by the Syrian Army. Some actually agree with us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/not-all-g8-members-take-the-view-that-chemical-weapons-were-in-fact/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-waxman/he-has-systematically-violated-over-the-course-of-the-past-11-years/) [Henry Waxman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-waxman/) > [ For example, the use of chemical weapons \[in Syria\]- some on the Democrat side have said well, this encourages the North Koreans to use… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/for-example-the-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-syria-some-on-the-democrat/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [Every day Saddam remains in power with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and the development of nuclear weapons is a day of danger for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-lieberman/every-day-saddam-remains-in-power-with-chemical-weapons-biological/) [Joe Lieberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-lieberman/) > [I believe that the topic of chemical weapons is critically important for international peace and security, and I take note of the ongoing debate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/i-believe-that-the-topic-of-chemical-weapons-is-critically-important/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons - are just that, and no cause can excuse their use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-n-haass/weapons-of-mass-destruction-nuclear-biological-and-chemical-weapons/) [Richard N. Haass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-n-haass/) > [Who cares how we avoided a war and got a dictator to give up his chemical weapons if we avoided a war and got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/who-cares-how-we-avoided-a-war-and-got-a-dictator-to-give-up-his/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [The United States, a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, destroyed the last of its stocks of VX and other chemical agents on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/the-united-states-a-signatory-to-the-chemical-weapons-convention/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Under Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq possessed and used chemical weapons against both their own Kurdish population and Iranian military forces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-b-rangel/under-saddam-hussein-the-nation-of-iraq-possessed-and-used-chemical/) [Charles B. Rangel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-b-rangel/) > [My goal is to maintain the international norm on banning chemical weapons. I want that enforcement to be real. I want it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/my-goal-is-to-maintain-the-international-norm-on-banning-chemical/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-byrd/the-last-un-weapons-inspectors-left-iraq-in-october-of-1998-we-are/) [Robert Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-byrd/) > [“Evolution is messy. Oftentimes our brains evolve more quickly than our capacity to love. Science has unlocked many mysteries of the universe by harnessing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-main/evolution-is-messy-oftentimes-our-brains-evolve-more-quickly-than-our/) [Darren Main](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-main/) ## More by Stuart Franklin > [There's an awful lot of work being done that no one ever sees, or that is only seen in the gallery world. I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/there-s-an-awful-lot-of-work-being-done-that-no-one-ever-sees-or-that/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [I think it's terribly important to reach out and understand all the different types of life and the different types of challenges that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/i-think-it-s-terribly-important-to-reach-out-and-understand-all-the/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [Photography was increasingly being seen as something outside the art world. As a sort of illustration. They just fired the director of photography at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/photography-was-increasingly-being-seen-as-something-outside-the-art/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [There is a danger in our modern practice of using embedded journalism. As there is less and less money available for journalism to uphold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/there-is-a-danger-in-our-modern-practice-of-using-embedded-journalism/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [I think, oddly, that the world of the amateur is quite self-contained, and it depends on "likes" from other amateurs to perpetuate itself. Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/i-think-oddly-that-the-world-of-the-amateur-is-quite-self-contained/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [The world of photography is very self-aware. Everybody is always looking around. So it's quite difficult to stand up with a megaphone and declare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/the-world-of-photography-is-very-self-aware-everybody-is-always/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [There was a time, right up until the end of the Second World War and beyond, when white people in Europe thought that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/there-was-a-time-right-up-until-the-end-of-the-second-world-war-and/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [Environmentalism is a personal thing - but it's also a planetary thing. It's about making deep connections. But it's also about recognizing the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/environmentalism-is-a-personal-thing-but-it-s-also-a-planetary-thing/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [After my mother died, I lived with relatives. Reading was a means of escaping into other worlds, as photography, much later, was to become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/after-my-mother-died-i-lived-with-relatives-reading-was-a-means-of/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [We don't understand what photography is doing. We don't understand the power of its rhetoric. We don't understand why the Provoke photographers showed Tokyo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/we-don-t-understand-what-photography-is-doing-we-don-t-understand-the/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [We create these walls between fact and fiction, but often the difference between the two is as little as that between a real name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/we-create-these-walls-between-fact-and-fiction-but-often-the/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [I was always interested in drawing and painting. I enrolled in college to study painting. But I didn't have any livelihood when I graduated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/i-was-always-interested-in-drawing-and-painting-i-enrolled-in-college/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [What people that are professionals in the art world - both in literature and the other arts - always try to do is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/what-people-that-are-professionals-in-the-art-world-both-in/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [Newspaper photographs nowadays are highly tautologous. You'll have an article about, say, stopping the war. And the photograph that will be used is literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/newspaper-photographs-nowadays-are-highly-tautologous-you-ll-have-an/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) > [In the same way, photography, for me, has fragmented. You do have people doing bodies of work - often with found photographs - that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-franklin/in-the-same-way-photography-for-me-has-fragmented-you-do-have-people/) [Stuart Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) [Explore all 30 Stuart Franklin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-franklin/) ## More Chemical weapons quotes > [I come to this debate, Mr. Speaker, as one at the end of 10 years in office on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pelosi/i-come-to-this-debate-mr-speaker-as-one-at-the-end-of-10-years-in/) [Nancy Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pelosi/) > [The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-byrd/the-last-un-weapons-inspectors-left-iraq-in-october-of-1998-we-are/) [Robert Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-byrd/) > [My goal is to maintain the international norm on banning chemical weapons. I want that enforcement to be real. I want it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/my-goal-is-to-maintain-the-international-norm-on-banning-chemical/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Under Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq possessed and used chemical weapons against both their own Kurdish population and Iranian military forces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-b-rangel/under-saddam-hussein-the-nation-of-iraq-possessed-and-used-chemical/) [Charles B. Rangel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-b-rangel/) > [The United States, a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, destroyed the last of its stocks of VX and other chemical agents on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/the-united-states-a-signatory-to-the-chemical-weapons-convention/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Who cares how we avoided a war and got a dictator to give up his chemical weapons if we avoided a war and got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/who-cares-how-we-avoided-a-war-and-got-a-dictator-to-give-up-his/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons - are just that, and no cause can excuse their use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-n-haass/weapons-of-mass-destruction-nuclear-biological-and-chemical-weapons/) [Richard N. Haass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-n-haass/) > [I believe that the topic of chemical weapons is critically important for international peace and security, and I take note of the ongoing debate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/i-believe-that-the-topic-of-chemical-weapons-is-critically-important/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Every day Saddam remains in power with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and the development of nuclear weapons is a day of danger for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-lieberman/every-day-saddam-remains-in-power-with-chemical-weapons-biological/) [Joe Lieberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-lieberman/) > [ For example, the use of chemical weapons \[in Syria\]- some on the Democrat side have said well, this encourages the North Koreans to use… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/for-example-the-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-syria-some-on-the-democrat/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-waxman/he-has-systematically-violated-over-the-course-of-the-past-11-years/) [Henry Waxman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-waxman/) > [Not all G8 members take the view that chemical weapons were in fact used by the Syrian Army. Some actually agree with us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/not-all-g8-members-take-the-view-that-chemical-weapons-were-in-fact/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [ Actually, he gave false evidence \[of chemical weapons\]. In this case,\[John\] Kerry didn't even present any evidence. He talked "we have evidence" and he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/actually-he-gave-false-evidence-of-chemical-weapons-in-this-case-john/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [“Evolution is messy. Oftentimes our brains evolve more quickly than our capacity to love. Science has unlocked many mysteries of the universe by harnessing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-main/evolution-is-messy-oftentimes-our-brains-evolve-more-quickly-than-our/) [Darren Main](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-main/) > [Any use of chemical weapons, by anyone, under any circumstances, is a grave violation of the 1925 Protocol and other relevant rules of customary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/any-use-of-chemical-weapons-by-anyone-under-any-circumstances-is-a/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) [Browse all 126 Chemical weapons quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemical-weapons/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There was as big a reaction after the revelations about Assad's chemical weapons. Nevertheless, that photograph did strike a singular chord. Which leads us to a larger fact: we don't understand why certain photographs create such an upheaval in one's soul. You look at them and go, \"Oh my gosh.\" And that doesn't happen with television. It's unique to photography. Photographs are unique in that they are a frame abstracted out of reality, out of, in this case, a civil war. A single event can carry so much weight. 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