Military service members have been taking and circulating illicit images for decades, and soldier-produced illicit images are a regular and coherent category of international images. Focusing on two case studies – Abu Ghraib images and images of hazing – the argument put forward in this article is that soldier-generated illicit images are not simply photographic evidence, or accidental by-products, of exceptional military activities; rather, these images – and the practices associated with these images – are central to, and reinforce aspects of, military band of brother culture. Soldier-produced illicit images establish a visual vernacular that normalizes particular practices within military communities. Moreover, the practices of producing, circulating and consuming these images convey explicit messages to service members about acceptable behaviour and norms around loyalty and secrecy. A method of visual discourse analysis is developed and employed to examine the acts captured in soldier-generated illicit images as well as the practices linked to the production, circulation and consumption of images. Building on existing work on military culture and images and international relations, this article makes a unique contribution by systematically analysing soldier-produced illicit images in order to gain insights about internal military culture and group dynamics.

中文翻译：

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为什么士兵交换非法照片？视觉话语分析如何照亮兄弟文化的军乐队

几十年来，军人一直在拍摄和传播非法图像，而士兵制作的非法图像是国际图像的一个规则和连贯的类别。关注两个案例研究——阿布格莱布图像和欺凌图像——本文提出的论点是，士兵生成的非法图像不仅仅是特殊军事活动的照片证据或意外副产品；相反，这些图像——以及与这些图像相关的实践——是兄弟文化军乐队的核心，并加强了这些方面。士兵制作的非法图像建立了一种视觉白话，使军事社区内的特定实践正常化。此外，在生产实践中，传播和消费这些图像向服务人员传达了关于忠诚和保密的可接受行为和规范的明确信息。开发并采用了一种视觉话语分析方法来检查士兵生成的非法图像中捕获的行为以及与图像的生产、流通和消费相关的实践。本文以现有的军事文化和图像以及国际关系工作为基础，通过系统分析士兵制作的非法图像以深入了解内部军事文化和群体动态，做出了独特的贡献。图像的流通和消费。本文以现有的军事文化和图像以及国际关系工作为基础，通过系统分析士兵制作的非法图像以深入了解内部军事文化和群体动态，做出了独特的贡献。图像的流通和消费。本文以现有的军事文化和图像以及国际关系工作为基础，通过系统分析士兵制作的非法图像以深入了解内部军事文化和群体动态，做出了独特的贡献。