The massive show of war photographs on display at the Brooklyn Museum is somewhat of a mess. Its unusual, if not bizarre, organization fails to foster—in fact, actually precludes—a creative conversation (moral, political or historic) among the 377 photographs it presents. In this sense, the exhibit, which spans more than 150 years and is modestly titled “War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,” is a wasted opportunity. And yet, almost in spite of itself, it also shows precisely what photography can do so well—sadly, perhaps—when it comes to documenting the sufferings and atrocities we gather under the rubric “war.” And so, despite its grave failings, this is a show that is well worth seeing.
Perhaps the show’s curators thought they needed some novel device—something unusual, improved and snazzy—that…