The critical potential regarding reality provided by journalistic photos is the subject of this article, which is guided by the following question: would it be pertinent to produce journalistic photographs that generate pain and indignation even for people far from the situation of suffering? Thus, to answer this question, we seek to understand the concept of the intolerable image, from Rancière's perspective, and explain the meanings put into circulation by journalistic photos of the Ukrainian War, winners of the Pulitzer Prize in 2023. The theoretical basis involves aspects of photojournalistic production; reflections on the image in contemporary society and on Boltanki's politics of pity; the intolerable image, according to Rancière, and Peircean semiotics. The analysis of three journalistic photos, among those taken by photographers from the Associated Press Agency, winners of the aforementioned award, involves, in addition to the intolerable image concept, the application of strategies from Peircean semiotics, which allow an inventory of the meanings and effects of these photos, based on their materiality, that is, impregnated in their qualitative, referential and conventional aspects. It should be noted that journalistic photos that soften the indexical character can stop causing pain or indignation and go beyond the intolerable image, arousing criticism of reality. The relevance of these reflections lies in proposing subsidies for photojournalistic production, as they clarify how a photograph could intensify its potential to be critical in relation to reality.