摄影技术与红十字组织大约同时出现,均诞生于19世纪下半叶。摄影这种新技术能够记录瞬间的现实,在展现战争的残酷及战争给战斗人员和平民所带来的痛苦方面,远胜于此前的素描和绘画。红十字国际委员会很早就着手对其照片进行保存和归档。这些照片原本用于说明规制战争之法律的必要性和红十字国际委员会的作用。 Photographic techniques appeared about the same time as the Red Cross Organization, were born in the second half of the 19th century. The new technology of photography, which captures the instant reality, far outshines previous sketches and paintings in showing the cruelty of the war and the pain the war has brought to combatants and civilians. The ICRC started very long ago to save and archive its photos. These photographs were originally intended to illustrate the need for a law regulating war and the role of the ICRC.