Summary Of On Photography By Susan Sontag

Your View of the World

Think about the last time you went somewhere exciting and did not have a camera or a picture-capturing device. How did that make you feel? In “On Photography,” the essay by Susan Sontag, she challenges how the uses of photography have developed between the invention of the camera in the 1800s and the time this essay was written in 1977, by juxtaposing different topics and ideas. She delves into how photography makes people feel and the plethora of uses, all which depend on the person. Finally, Sontag states that photography lets people show their experiences to others through their own point of view. Through her cynical words, she forces readers to feel a negative emotion towards photography. Sontag states pathos-charged

claims, that don’t only appeal to the readers’ emotional side, but also make the reader think more deeply about their own actions, especially when it comes to the act of taking a picture.
Sontag approaches the topic of photography in a way beyond her time.

In photography’s more recent uses, “[it] has become one of the principal devices for experiencing something, for giving an appearance of full participation” (177). She would like to make up an excuse as to why so many people take pictures and why so many obsess over the simple act of taking a picture. This strategic use of pathos appeals to the emotional side of the readers and makes them truly think about why they take pictures. This quote might bring up feelings of sorrow because the reader might remember events that they have attended in the past only to take pictures, not because they cared about the what was happening at the event. Sontag also uses the appeal to emotion to subtly attack the readers. The statement might make the reader stop and consider their actions. They may think about how the statement does not describe them, and then think about it a little longer and realize that it exactly describes what they do. Today, most people take pictures for their later enjoyment, but they also subconsciously take photographs because they have the desire to show others that they involve themselves in a myriad of

activities.
Furthermore, when it was first invented, photography was an art form and only specific people had access to a camera.

So only those people could show off their “art”, or how they interpreted an experience or event. Now in the 21st century, everyone has a cell phone with a camera. Because people have access to this portable picture-capturing device, they have an easy way to create their own art form. In turn, they have an effortless way to show off to others that they enjoy outdoor activities or participating in impressive life events. Sontag brings up this topic in a strategic way by making the readers feel nostalgic about photography. Photography seems like such a modern invention, when in fact, photography surpasses all the article’s readers in age. In addition to just being able to take pictures of the happenings in the present moment, people can easily skew this photographical information. With social media sites and filters galore, someone can edit their pictures so much that the image no longer represents their true experience. Before the invention of the camera, people did things because they enjoyed them. Today, because of the invention of the camera, people do things not because they like them, but because they want to show people that they did something noteworthy. After reading this information, think about your own life. Do you have hobbies because you genuinely enjoy them or because you can take pictures and show off to your

friends?
Along with the human need to show off and appear as though one participates, Sontag touches on the idea of immortality. With photography, events have the ability to live on forever, long after the occasion ends. Sontag solemnly states that, “[w]hile real people are out there killing themselves or other real people, the photographer stays behind his or her camera, creating a tiny element of another world: the image-world that bids to outlast us all” (178). The author uses the appeal to gloomy emotion to evoke the audience’s sense of empathy. She talks about somber events and how people would rather take pictures to document these events instead of helping the people in dire need of assistance. This makes the reader think that a photographer is cynical because they would rather risk someone else’s life to get a photograph instead of saving them. The photographer does not help only because they want that exact moment in time live on forever. The author’s choice to talk about immortality and how it relates to photography tugs on the heart strings of the reader because immortality isn’t talked about often, especially considering that no one can live forever.
One might wonder what the fascination is with picture-taking. Maybe people take photos for nostalgic purposes, to help one have memories and remember events, or simply because one wants to show off to their friends. Photography is “a way of certifying experience, [but] also a way of refusing it- by limiting experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting experience into a souvenir” (177). Sontag provokes the thoughts of the readers and makes them ask the question: why do we take pictures? Taking a picture to make it a souvenir equates to taking a picture for nostalgic purposes. Nostalgia is a need for the past, typically associated with happy memories. However, when one focuses on only capturing the perfect photograph so the memory can be positive, they may be hurting their actual experience. Feeling stuck behind the lens of their camera instead of enjoying themselves in the moment can make it difficult for someone to fully appreciate an experience. If one cannot experience what is happening when it is occurring, how will they be able to remember it clearly when thinking back to it for nostalgic purposes?
Many of the points that Sontag brings up might make the reader think that she has negative feelings about photography. This negative energy also contributes to how the reader feels. Because the author sheds a negative light on most of her ideas, everything that the audience reads makes them feel sadness, even though the topic of photography is usually thought about to be happy. The topic of photography is synonymous with joy and pleasant memories, but Sontag puts a dark twist on it which makes the audience think much deeper about the true meaning of photography. Instead of taking a picture to remember something that you did, Sontag suggests that people, such as tourists, “feel compelled to put the camera between themselves and whatever is remarkable that they encounter” (177). Tourists feel the need to take pictures because they feel threatened by the sights in front of them. Sontag forces the readers to think about the times they have shown tourist tendencies. Her pathos-based word choice makes someone think that they don’t take pictures for memories; but instead because they want to make a separation between themselves and the object in front of them. Through her choice of words, the author encourages the audience to think about the simple action of tourists taking pictures through a more somber lens.
For most people, photography is a way to capture pleasant moments. Most people then use the pictures that they take to think back on the fun times and reminisce. Using pathos in her writing helps Sontag force the readers to dig deeper into their emotions about why humans rely so heavily on photography. Some people might start to feel sorrow because they were not able to truly experience an event or maybe someone might think more about their actions and why they do the things they do. Did I go to that concert because I like that band or did I just go so I could put the whole concert on my Snapchat story and make people jealous? The author sincerely helps people ask themselves questions similar to the one previously stated, which in turn might help the reader change their daily actions. Although this essay was written 40 years ago, Sontag effectively forces the reader to analyze their own actions, especially when it comes to photography.