With the touch of a single click a picture is taken and forever revitalized. Photography takes the essence of memory and seals it into the history of those involved in the process. Susan Sontag’s didactic text “On Photography” digs deep into the meaning of photography and claims that it has unlimited power within modern society. Her exclamation that “cameras are fantasy-machines” exerts the idea that photography brings the world closer together, yet seems so distant as if it were all but an illusion.
Sontag starts off her text by asserting that humans are still in Plato’s cave. She argues that humans become obsessed with power and knowledge, through photography one controls the mechanism of dominion, by exerting our experience and thoughts upon others. Photography according to Sontag is form of attainment, as a camera clicks the photo becomes part of a database with networks spreading from family photos to acting as evidence. In this aspect photography acts as a direction, a course to take in one’s lifetime to uncover the truth behind life.
Sontag explains that photographs make life more fulfilling, for example she states that “something we [doubt] seems proven when were shown a photograph of it” (Sontag 3). As life progress, humans begin to doubt whether certain events ever actually happened, memories become more hazy and unclear to the point where it’s best to forget rather carry on with regrets. At this stage photographs take on their true meaning, a portal to relive the events in one’s life such as a wedding photograph, tears overflow and the sounds and cries of family are heard, a blissful moment indeed.
However, a camera being a “fantasymachine” reaches its limits as one looks away from the photograph, the “picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists or did exist,” Sontag’s tone here becomes sentimental, as the joyful moment one relives is made clear, it is nothing, but a part of the past. The most basic component of photography is that it captures reality into a still image that reveals its zeitgeist. In the literal sense reality is impossible to capture, but Sontag explains it as a way of preserving the past, handling the present, and preparing for the future.
In addition, Sontag divides photography into a positive and negative force, one that falls in our control, while the other vanishes from sight. She believes that society becomes obsessed with capturing the moment, a form nihilism that seeks to discard the present and reject the notion of time. Therefore, Sontag perceives “cameras [as] the antidote and the disease, a means of appropriating reality and a means of making it obsolete” (Sontag 122). This leads to her fear that the future might compromise of an excessive amount of consumption of images which will lead towards the exhaustion of reality.
While it’s true that the world is progressing more towards the “image-world” as Sontag describes it, it is inevitable to argue that imagery plays a huge role in today’s world. Sontag offers a much more radical approach towards society’s consumption of images, which is further evident by her comparison of photography to rape. Her words here tend to contradict as she explains the necessity of conserving images, but fails to offer a solution to it. To delve deeper into Sontag’s jargon, consider her assertion of photography’s inherent violence.
For Sontag to “photograph people is to violate them, see them as they never see themselves,” this creates a form of imprisonment where the victim, the photographed is in total control of the photographer (Sontag 10). The camera acts as a gun, not to kill but hold power over the individual and present them in a demeaning manner. Violence of this type is most evident in the media who hover like vultures seeking its prey. Sontag’s statement that “cameras are fantasy-machines” applies to this scenario in the aspect that the “fantasy” is the photographer’s intentions and how they use the image (Sontag 10).
It’s hard to accept a fact that an image can hold power, but more so the revelation that it’s a form of occupancy. Therefore, the use of a camera is addictive and perverse, however my statement would insight disagreement from Sontag as well as Roland Barthes who might explain that through imagery we create a fantasy, a right everyone holds to explain that which is before their eyes because “photographs cannot themselves explain anything, [therefore] are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy” (Sontag 28). A photo being an image of still reality creates a unique effect, perception.
In “The Heroism of Vision” Sontag discusses the relationship between beauty in truth and its impact on photographic history. She holds that photography is meant to find beauty in the world and capture it. For example a beautiful photo of a sunset makes an actual sunset banal, why search and wait for a sunset when it can be seen whenever you want. This heightens Sontag’s claim that the act of taking photographs replaces an actual experience by creating an illusion that distorts reality through nostalgia. In other words, a fantasy world that gives the viewer a sense of participation of what was once reality.
This arbitrary relationship sets up a “chronic voyeuristic relation to the world which levels the meaning of all events” (Sontag 15). The photographer is habitually removed from the world, but still feels a false sense of familiarization and participation in a world full of deja vu. Beauty as seen today is in a state of confusion due to the progression of technology. The camera can now lie, cheat, and deceive those mesmerized by its use. Humans now hold the power to use photography to forge a reality to suit their own aesthetics.
Giving photography the ability to document its own vision of imagery and thus reconcile the truth with the need for beauty. Photography has made a huge impact on the world around us. It has become a way of connecting others through the internet and expressing oneself. Modern technologies combine with everyday trends to create a new outlook and revolutionize it. An example of this would be “selfies” the term young adults have come up with to describe the act of holding a cellphone in front of oneself and capturing everything from the head to shoulders A simple act that has recently become the decor of society.
A “selfie” also depicts Sontag’s point of view in “Photographic Evangels” that photographs show a reality that is only discernable through the photograph itself. The camera is a tool for discovery, discovering oneself and the reality around them. Towards the end of her text, Sontag undertakes a tone of negativity that questions the value of photographs with resp to the development of the mass media. For her, society has become industrialized with photography fulfilling the requirements of contemporary consumption.
This comes in two forms, one “as s spectacle and sonel as an object of surveillance” (Sontag 42). The former being a way to divert the attention of the masses and the latter being a tool of the government to regulate the lives of the populace. Although, Sontag insists that the way a photograph is interpreted is entirely up to the people, since cameras capture things as they appear and happen. Many would agree with her, while others would think she is overly cynical.
Photographs serve a variety of purposes, mostly being a way to hold memories in physical form, but it is through exploitation that sullies photography and those fully devoted to its use. Cameras are a form of imagination allowing one to glorify its use by revealing spectacles missed by other and allowing them to experience the same joy felt by the photographer. Photography, according to Sontag is not simply a copy of reality, but rather the embodiment of a person’s memories and experience.
Photography has become a medium through which people express their ideas, thoughts, and happiness. With a single look, you are brought back to the past and are allowed to relive it. Photography is not an art, but has the capacity of turning everything it captures into art. The more you look at photographs, the more you become inspired to take them. A revelation of Sontag’s statement that photography is becoming ever more institutionalized, but more so addicting. Though addiction is a small price to pay for, after all the camera allows you to recreate a world as you see fit.
