(no subject)
From my journal in June 2002:
Sontag argues that photographs give us an unrealistic concept of reality. They provide a filter for the viewer of what is important and what isn’t. In today’s world it appears that everything worth photographing is photographed. Therefore, everything that is not worth photographing is not photographed. No matter what the event, if it was important, there is probably a photograph of it, so tat it could be documented for the rest of the world and the photographer him/ herself. Not only do photographs filer reality, they define it. Photographs usually do not lie. This is one of the reasons that they are used as such incontrovertible evidence. However, in truth, photographs do not make or break a person’s opinion; they can only reinforce what a person already thinks, or create new opinions. Photographs, in contrast to other mediums, are very unique. At least, they are more unique than a movie. While a movie is a continuous stream of images, a photograph is a “privileged moment” which has been captured on a 4x6 piece of paper and made cartable to its owner.
Sontag argues that photographs give us an unrealistic concept of reality. They provide a filter for the viewer of what is important and what isn’t. In today’s world it appears that everything worth photographing is photographed. Therefore, everything that is not worth photographing is not photographed. No matter what the event, if it was important, there is probably a photograph of it, so tat it could be documented for the rest of the world and the photographer him/ herself. Not only do photographs filer reality, they define it. Photographs usually do not lie. This is one of the reasons that they are used as such incontrovertible evidence. However, in truth, photographs do not make or break a person’s opinion; they can only reinforce what a person already thinks, or create new opinions. Photographs, in contrast to other mediums, are very unique. At least, they are more unique than a movie. While a movie is a continuous stream of images, a photograph is a “privileged moment” which has been captured on a 4x6 piece of paper and made cartable to its owner.