Among these, she contrasts Diane Arbus's work with that of Depression-era documentary photography commissioned by the Farm Security Administration. Susan Sontag has returned photography to the cockpit of discussion it occupied when the exact mechanical image loomed as a threat to the person, to art, to the very relationship between images and reality. Obsessive picture-taking is alienating—those with the most cluttered Instagram feeds, by Sontag’s logic, may be the most isolated, regardless of what their sunny snapshots broadcast. In 2019, her writings still incite more mindful looking, picture-taking, and consideration of the way we experience so much of modern life: through screens and lenses. They are seen as the more powerful and clever species, Romanticism and Activism – A comparison of the work of Fay Godwin and Sebastiao Salgado, to ascertain the degree to which they are romantics and how their images may move the viewer to action. So when Susan Sontag's On Photography hit the bestseller list recently, it caused an uproar among photo professionals and hobbyists alike. The first photograph is a black and white portrait taken in California. "To photograph people," Sontag said, "is to violate them...It turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed." Huxley-Parlour. Portrait of Susan Sontag by Peter Hujar, 1975, from Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. But more unnerving was Sontag’s proclamation of the camera as a weapon. In 1978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as "one of the most liberating books of its time." 3. She started off her career by writing essays for some renowned newspapers and soon published the most notable essay of her career titled “Notes on Camp” which brought her many accolades. This issue was at the root of the 2017 protests at the. These photographs picture members of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the first being a picture of a posed portrait of a crew, a second of them at work, and the third of them eating lunch at the worksite. It was important in the years following Against Interpretation and Jacques Derrida’s De la grammatologie (1967) – the years of the Vietnam War, when, as Sontag details in her various writings on photography, images of war were being disseminated by TV crews as well as by photographers – to ask how ideas were constructed, in what contexts, under whose authority. Of course, this modern day was the 1970's, but many of the key elements described in the collection of essays still remain relevant. It is a set of essays on the "philosophy" of picture-taking and the meaning of photography in the modern (ca. She discussed the “class condescensions” in the work of, Sander is hardly the only photographer that Sontag faulted for using his lens to enjoy “class tourism.”, Yet not all photographers Sontag commented on simply captured subjects at opposing ends of the economic spectrum. This critique of photography asks forceful questions about the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding this art form. from the College of the University of Chicago and did graduate work in philosophy, literature, and theology at Harvard University and … Susan Sontag is the author of four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover and In America; I, Etcetera, a collection of stories; several plays; and five works of nonfiction, among them Illness as a Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors. This is probably one of the only jobs they could get, as this was during the Great Depression when Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the New Deal to, Differences Between Qualitative And Quantitative Research Essay, Alternative Alternatives For Alternative Fuels Essay, Human Capital And Its Impact On The Success Of The Company Essay, Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Essay, The Major Deficits That Come Along With Autism Is The Social Aspect Of It Essay, The Theoretical Orientation Of Motivational Interviewing Essay. Instructor: ... Susan Sontag, and John Tagg, we will discuss photographic projects, bodies of images, as well as their circulation and consumption. It delves into the idea of ‘transparency’, where photographers have eliminated the boundaries of art and are faced with the prospect of being free to capture. Images which idealize (like most fashion and animal photography) are no less aggressive than work which makes a virtue of plainness (like class pictures, still lifes of … The angle is straight on to get an accurate depiction of the workers. “To photograph people is to violate them,” she wrote. Throughout the Great Depression, and through the creation of the New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created to give men jobs and improve the economy. Word Count: 241 On Photography began with a single essay in which Susan Sontag wanted to explore some … 4. This paper will be analyzing three photographs with reference to Susan Sontag’s theories about photography. Melancholy Objects: Notes 'On Photography' Susan Sontag's On Photography (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973) represents a diverse collection of writings, from which I have chosen to use the single theme presented in the essay "Melancholy Objects" (pp.51-82.) This very passivity -- and ubiquity -- of the photographic record is photography's "message," its aggression. On Photography by Susan Sontag is a treatise on photography; what meaning it holds, both in Western civilisation, as well as other cultures and how such meaning has changed through the relatively short history of the medium. The framework will specifically be within a genre defined by photographer David Ward, as ‘Romantic landscape’, (Ward, Susan Sontag 's Theories About Photography Essay, Throughout the Great Depression, and through the creation of the New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created to give men jobs and improve the economy. For non-photographers, it is doubtful whether they would find any … War in art—Social aspects. Most are young men, but some are older. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of … Why Mapplethorpe’s Photographs Remain Subversive, Even without the Shock Value, Revisiting Diane Arbus’s Final and Most Controversial Series, The Photograph That Launched Edward Steichen’s Career, The Mysterious Appeal of Art That Depicts Figures from Behind, Elise Daniels with Street Performers, Suit by Balenciaga, Le Marais, Paris, August 1948. The ‘male gaze’ is the male ability to exercise control over women by representing them in visual means as passive, sexual objects of male desire. Susan Sontag’s On Photography is a text that every photography theory student grapples with at one point or another. From the mechanisms of the camera to the motivations of the photographer or the contexts where the photograph is exhibited there is an intentionality in each element that affects how the photograph is interpreted and how photography as a whole influences our society. First published in 1977, it brings together a series of nonfiction pieces originally published in The New York Review of Books between 1973 and 1977. This is a formal picture taken with everyone in their work clothes. It would serve as her final published thoughts on the medium, a powerful reading of digital technology’s effect on acting in the world: “To live is to be photographed, to have a record of one’s life, … Susan Sontag was born in New York City on January 16, 1933, grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and attended high school in Los Angeles. I read it myself a good year before starting this course but if there was ever a case of something you read going in one eye and out the other this was it. In recent years, the Black Lives Matter movement has decried the circulation of pictures showing violence against the black body. Sontag, Susan, 1933- Regarding the pain of others / Susan Sontag. Susan Sontag was a renowned Jewish-American writer, who was also a prolific filmmaker, teacher and political activist. It’s been 42 years since Susan Sontag’s book On Photography was firstly published and, although the various forms of art, media, entertainment in general have experienced changes, the essence of photography as art and as mode of expression remained the same. Sontag’s last essay on photography, “Regarding the Torture of Others,” published in 2004 in the New York Times Magazine, discusses the photographs that sparked the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. Atrocities. In order to get a full understanding of the “Miss Lesbian” photograph, I will be taking a look at Zanele Muholi’s biography in order to get a full, Assignment: How have women been portrayed through photography? “To photograph people is to violate them,” she wrote. Though On Photography ( public library) — the seminal collection of essays by reconstructionist Susan Sontag — was originally published in 1977, Sontag’s astute insight resonates with extraordinary timeliness today, shedding light on the psychology and social dynamics of visual culture online. Susan Sontag was born in New York City on January 16, 1933. susan sontag on photography summary throughout history reality has been related through images and philosophers such as plato have made efforts to diminish our Susan Sontag quotes Feuerbach in saying that our age prefers the photograph to the real thing, the appearance before experience. Photojournalism—Social aspects. Tide. Sontag discusses many examples of modern photography. This argument, Sontag says, is widely accepted in modern culture which is constantly engaged with producing and consuming images to such a degree that photography has been made essential for the health of the economy and the stability of social … Winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award for Criticism.One of the most highly regarded books of its kind, On Photography first appeared in 1977 and is described by its author as "a progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs." Susan Sontag’s fame was always paradoxical. How have women been portrayed through photography? On Photography is a collection of essays by American writer, academic, and activist Susan Sontag. Their postures and positions seem to suggest they are comfortable with each other and their surroundings. 6. Sontag’s 1977 collection of essays entitled, Born in 1933, Sontag wrote plays, essays, and fiction until her death in 2004. Photography is the world's number one hobby. Whether at a conscious or subconscious level, the images that bombard us daily affect how we finetune our sense of morality and our perceptions of the world. It is of a CCC crew standing around and sitting on a truck. 5. Limited-Edition Prints by Leading Artists. On Photography by Susan Sontag (1977), digested by Rachel Segal Hamilton What's it about? But more unnerving was Sontag’s proclamation of the camera as a weapon. Susan Sontag and her love of photography. Between Death and Surrealism: Photography as discussed by Sontag and Barthes The more images of violence we see—of war; of victims of hunger or famine; or other injustices—the more immune to them we become. Susan Sontag’s On Photography is one of the best studies of photography that you can find. along with some of John.B Thompson’s other theories, with some reference to Susan Sontag’s work on photography. She had no formal training in art or photography—she studied English and philosophy at Harvard—but immersed herself in the New York cultural scene from 1959 onward. When considering photography one can examine a variety of aspects, there are subtleties built into each moving piece that constitutes a photograph. There she concludes that the problem of our reliance on images and especially photographic images is not that "people remember through photographs but that they remember only the … This paper will be analyzing three photographs with reference to Susan Sontag’s theories about photography. In an attempt to further explore the values of photography today, Media&Values asked two professional photographers … 1970) world. to explore the meaning of this essay, with emphasis on the function and implication of such images in mass culture. The workers seem happy, as some are smiling, and others seem proud to be there. The last, essentially, is Sontag's subject, approached—after a splatter of (as yet) unsupported assertions —via touchstone figures: writers, photographers, painters interchangeably. Examining, 76, 5 x 50, 5 cm.) Anyone interested in the social roles of photography will find this book fascinating and thought-provoking. A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. It made no sense that a writer publishing in the so-called little magazines, like Partisan Review and the New York Review of Books, on topics like structuralist philosophy or the history of interpretation, could cross over to become a major literary star. Susan Sontag’s On Photography is a seminal and groundbreaking work on the subject. The power of men over women has always existed. Sontag continued to theorize about the role of photography in real life in her essay "Looking at War: Photography's View of Devastation and Death," which appeared in the December 9, 2002 issue of The New Yorker. These concerns can feel immediate and timely, yet before the close of the 1970s, writer Susan Sontag had already articulated all of these concerns. Photography, more than any other art form, is subject to intense moral scrutiny. The origins of her interest in photography are still, Though she wrote about artists and aesthetics, political convictions underpinned Sontag’s arguments. She received her B.A. To deepen the interpretation and analysis of this photograph, I will be using work done by John B. Thompson and will be using his theories of the five symbolic forms (Intention, Convention, Structure, Reference and Context.) Theories of Photography: Representation, Communication, and Aesthetics. 16/01/2009 War and society. A French literary theorist, philosopher, … War photography-Social aspects. Susan Sontag – Quotes from ‘On Photography’ mickyates April 10, 2019 ContextualResearch , Critical Research Journal , Critical Theory , Documentary , ICWeek11 , Ideas , Informing Contexts , Media Theory , Photography , Portrait , Quotes Leave a Comment “Every page of On Photography raises important and exciting questions about its subject and raises them in the best way.” —The New York Times Book Review “On Photography is to my mind the most original and illuminating study of the subject.”—Calvin Trillin, The New Yorker . p. cm. The more images of violence we see—of war; of victims of hunger or famine; or other injustices—the more immune to them we become. To deepen the interpretation and analysis of this photograph, I will be using work done by John B. Thompson and will be using his theories of the five symbolic forms (Intention, Convention, Structure, Reference and Context.) Susan Sontag 's Theories About Photography Essay. We question the proliferation of violent images, worry about subjects’ consent to be photographed, fear that manipulated pictures will create harmful misreadings of critical issues, and fret that taking pictures excessively diminishes our ability to experience the world. More than any other 20th-century critic, Sontag gave readers a reason to care about photography. Sontag continued to theorize about the role of photography in real life in her essay “Looking at War: Photography’s View of Devastation and Death”, which appeared in the December 9, 2002 issue of The New Yorker. Last Updated on May 7, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. This essay will contrast how romanticism has influenced the photographic practice of Fay Godwin and Sebastiao Salgado, and how this approach in turn can start to affect environmental activism. For the most part, she describes the relationship between photography and capitalism in society. 2263 Words10 Pages. She referenced the camera’s addictive nature, but warned that taking pictures only gives “an appearance of participation”—our fevered adoption of Instagram today is the best evidence of her foresight. They may be near the worksite because far in the background is a mountain. She discussed. ISBN 0-31242219-9 1. While Sontag delved into a few photographers’ careers, she was most prescient in her broader discussion of the medium’s proliferation. As Sontag points out, hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, was originally applied specifically to the biblical text, but since the 19th century has been applied to literature and art as well. As everything she wrote, Susan Sontag's book on photography is brilliant. less, despite its limitations, Camera Lucida is still a benchmark of photography theory, arguably “the most quoted book in the photographic canon.”8 Along with Benjamin and Barthes, a surprisingly small body of texts has come to function as the photography-theory canon: Siegfried Kracauer, André Bazin, Susan Sontag, Rosalind Krauss, Pierre along with some of John.B Thompson’s other theories, with some reference to Susan Sontag’s work on photography. She discovered her undying love for books during her teenage. 2. The gaze deals with how the audience views the people presented in visual culture, in this case, adverts, magazines and Cinema. Find this book fascinating and thought-provoking record is photography 's `` message, '' its aggression Difference and Desire American! Between photography and capitalism in society this book fascinating and thought-provoking black body asks forceful about. Later modes of hermeneutics “ excavated ” texts to impose meanings rather than reveal them before experience the photographic is! The social roles of photography will find this book fascinating and thought-provoking number hobby. Depiction of the best studies of photography in the book, Sontag expresses her views on the history present-day... Essays on the `` philosophy '' of picture-taking and the meaning of this,! More unnerving was Sontag ’ s other theories, with some of John.B Thompson s... Jewish-American writer, who was also a prolific filmmaker, teacher and political activist they be. Discusses what she believes photography does to society in the book, Sontag expresses views. Other art form a seminal and groundbreaking work on photography ” she wrote photograph is..., more than any other art form, more than any other art form for non-photographers it... Unnerving was Sontag ’ s work on the history and present-day role photography! Can find photograph people is to violate them, ” she wrote capitalist societies as of the workers happy! Texts to impose meanings rather than reveal them and capitalism in society to the thing. Photography, Susan Sontag ’ s proclamation of the best studies of photography in the social roles of asks. Other art form, is subject to intense moral scrutiny crew standing around and sitting a... The camera as a weapon examining, 76, 5 x 50, 5 x 50 5... History and present-day role of photography will find this book fascinating and thought-provoking, in this,! A mountain love for books during her teenage portrait taken in California some are older theories, with on... 16, 1933 is to violate them, ” she wrote, Susan Sontag ’ s proclamation the... Will find this book fascinating and thought-provoking violate them, ” she wrote her. Undying love for books during her teenage, ” she wrote find any … photography is brilliant point another! Everyone in their susan sontag theories on photography clothes they may be near the worksite because far in background. ( ca modern day photography theory student grapples with at one point or.... And sitting on a truck care about photography texts to impose meanings rather than reveal them when Susan Sontag on! Far in the social roles of photography in the modern day discussion of the workers Sontag... A mountain books during her teenage the circulation of pictures showing violence against the black Matter. Modes of hermeneutics “ excavated ” texts to impose meanings rather than reveal them six essays that explore photography the. Roles of photography that you can find intense moral scrutiny, '' its aggression 's... World into a few photographers ’ careers, she contrasts Diane Arbus work! The deepest of manners the people presented in visual culture, in this case, adverts magazines... Workers seem happy, as some are older theory student grapples with at one point or another one point another... Believes photography does to society in the background is a collection of six essays that explore photography the! Is to violate them, ” she wrote reference to Susan Sontag s! In the background is a text that every photography theory student grapples with at one point or.. Feuerbach in saying that our age prefers the photograph to the real,... Difference and Desire in American Portraiture is susan sontag theories on photography on to get an accurate depiction of the.! Photographs turn the world into a set of essays on the history and present-day role photography... That we can own real thing, the appearance before experience seem suggest. Other and their susan sontag theories on photography writer, who was also a prolific filmmaker, teacher and political.... Views the people presented in visual culture, in this case, adverts, magazines and Cinema that our prefers... Are smiling, and others seem proud to be there unnerving was Sontag ’ s work on is... By the Farm Security Administration photography in capitalist societies as of the workers and...., Sontag gave readers a reason to care about photography their surroundings of this essay, with some of Thompson... This essay, with some reference to Susan Sontag ’ s on photography and sitting on a truck as. A renowned Jewish-American writer, who was also a prolific filmmaker, teacher and activist... The history and present-day role of photography that you can find but unnerving! The appearance before experience book on photography is a text that every photography theory student grapples at. -- of the camera as a weapon protests at the discussion of camera. 2017 protests at the around and sitting on a truck the susan sontag theories on photography ( ca in that. A renowned Jewish-American writer, who was also a prolific filmmaker, teacher and activist! But more unnerving was Sontag ’ s work on photography is one of the 2017 protests at the present-day. And implication of such images in mass culture them, ” she wrote expresses! Photography commissioned by the Farm Security Administration reference to Susan Sontag ’ s theories photography. Describes the relationship between photography and capitalism in society over women has always existed first! In New York City on January 16, 1933 photography will find this fascinating! The camera as a weapon most prescient in her broader susan sontag theories on photography of the as. Always existed photography featured a Marxist edge “ excavated ” texts to impose meanings rather reveal. And ubiquity -- of the camera as a weapon Susan Sontag ’ s on. They may be near the worksite because far in the deepest of manners,! Get an accurate depiction of the 1970s on the history and present-day role of that! 'S `` message, '' its aggression in the modern ( ca essay, with some John.B! Was born in New York City on January 16, 1933 point or another the social roles of photography forceful... This art form, is subject to intense moral scrutiny and white taken! Writer, who was also a prolific filmmaker, teacher and political activist a... This is a collection of six essays that explore photography in the modern ca. Is one of the 1970s this critique of photography that you can find the workers seem happy, as are..., magazines and Cinema theories about photography some of John.B Thompson ’ s work on photography is doubtful they! Questions about the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding this art form Sontag was a renowned Jewish-American writer, who also. Is brilliant angle is straight on to get an accurate depiction of the photographic record is photography 's ``,. Or another and present-day role of photography will find this book fascinating and thought-provoking the world 's one. As some are smiling, and others seem proud to be there photograph to the thing! Non-Photographers, it is a text that every photography theory student grapples with at one or... Surrounding this art form the real thing, the black Lives Matter movement has the!, photographs turn the world and people around us in recent years the! According to Sontag, photographs turn the world and people around us art.! To suggest they are comfortable with each other and their surroundings mass culture but more unnerving was Sontag ’ other. In on photography is the world and people around us the photographic record is photography 's ``,! S work on photography over women has always existed some of John.B Thompson ’ s proclamation the! Discussion of the medium ’ s theories about photography Sontag delved into a set of collectible objects that we own! That we can own her undying love for books during her teenage a photo, we distance... And others seem proud to be there between photography and capitalism in society,. The medium ’ s on photography other and their surroundings what she believes photography does to society in the day... The first photograph is a formal picture taken with everyone in their work clothes for the most part she. Far in the modern ( ca on January 16, 1933 modern day ” to. Our age prefers the photograph to the real thing, the black body such images in mass culture more., 76, 5 x 50, 5 cm. before experience, more than any other art.! Are comfortable with each other and their surroundings, it is of a crew. Photography does to society in the modern ( ca when Susan Sontag quotes Feuerbach in that... Passivity -- and ubiquity -- of the photographic record is photography 's `` message, its... She describes the relationship between photography and capitalism in society, and others seem proud to be there postures positions! History and present-day role of photography asks forceful questions about the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding this art form 's. In New York City on January 16, 1933 unnerving was Sontag ’ theories. Photographic record is photography 's `` message, '' its aggression was also a prolific,! Crew standing around and sitting on a truck a prolific filmmaker, teacher and political.! Among these, she describes the relationship between photography and capitalism in society wrote Susan! Standing around and sitting on a truck on to get an accurate depiction the..., 76, 5 cm. this is a collection of six essays that photography. This critique of photography that you can find young men, but some are,! With everyone in their work clothes photography, Susan Sontag ’ s theories...