The collection of photographs published in newspapers or shown on television, documenting political and social violence—exploiting the subjects and satisfying viewers' voyeurism or rather serving as valuable and irreplaceable records;

Susie Linfield, a journalism professor at New York University, begins with this question to understand how documentary photography has always operated alongside history, often undertaking the difficult task of representing society's conscience, whether good or evil.

Through critical examination (from Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht to Susan Sontag and postmodern thinkers), iconic examples (photographs of the Holocaust, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, African tragedies, and recent terrorist attacks), and renowned war photographers (Robert Capa, James Nachtwey, and Gilles Peress), Linfield seems to argue that observing certain images, and learning to see the people depicted, is a morally and politically necessary act that connects us to our modern history of violence and tests our resilience to evil.

"The Cruel Radiance" is a clear and comprehensive book, rich in perspectives and questions, debunking some myths of photography and helping—and this also through its bibliography—to understand and analyze images that reveal the dark side of our world.