Susan Sontag 's The Wedding Picture

Photographs are special because you can tell an entire story with them without using a single word, it can convey emotions, and feelings. Photographs make connections, photographs can show challenges in our world along with celebrating the greatness in the world.

Photography gives you a small sample of reality, but these realities have been changed to what the photographer wants to present. However as Sontag stated, “Of course, photographs fill in the blanks in our mental pictures of the present and the past.” Pictures show proof that all of the history that we learn is true, but although it confirms that, pictures does not show us the entire picture of how people felt about the situation. For example, one might have a picture from WWII and show us the setting, but does that picture really show the feeling of the people? That is why we say that photography only goes as far as to how the photographer wants to show the

Sontag believes that photography limits the understanding of the world however, contrary to this claim, I believe that photography does not limit the understanding of the world, but rather enhances it.

In Freeman Patterson’s Barriers to Seeing, Patterson mentions a quote from Susan Sontag about cameras and experiences. Sontag writes, “‘A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it – by limiting the experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting into an image, a souvenir’” (Paragraph 12). Essentially, Sontag is elaborating how people are distracted from their surroundings and experiences to find a photogenic picture or to record what they think to be an experience. While the objective of photography is usually to capture an experience or feeling, many are instead obsessed with finding good lighting, searching for a good background, and are focused on taking the best picture to post on social media. In many cases this is very true, and I myself can see it in people’s photos as well as my own. In Freeman Patterson’s Barriers to Seeing,” he quotes Susan Sontag’s statement that one’s camera can be a barrier to seeing and experiencing a moment. Through other’s picture taking as well

In “Why We Take Pictures,” Susan Sontag discusses the increase use of technology and its ability to impact the daily lives of mankind. Taking pictures is a form of self-evolution that slowly begins to shape past and present experiences into reality. Sontag argues how the use of photography is capable of surpassing our reality by helping us understand the concept of emotion, diversity, and by alleviating anxiety and becoming empowered. Moreover, according to her argument, people are able to construct a bond between the positive or negative moments in life to cognitively release stress through reminiscing. Therefore, Sontag claims that photography itself can help with reshaping individual’s perspectives of reality by being able to empathize with the emotions portrayed through an image. Thus, giving

A picture bride. The ideal idea of woman created by looks and age, specifically for a man overseas. The book, Picture Bride by Yoshiko Uchida follows the life of Hana, a picture bride from Japan. As Hana and her husband Taro experience life together, the newly wed couple struggle to live in an America filled with racism and prejudice against people of a different skin color. Hana’s fight for acceptance within her community and even her own home reveals the difference in cultures between the two countries. With strong roots in her Japanese culture, living and raising a child in America proves difficult. Hana’s own relationships with her husband and child are strained because of decisions she makes, and it is up to her to attempt to repair them. The desire for acceptance in her community and own home drives Hana, while she struggles with balancing a mix of Japanese and American culture while raising a child, which in turn lead to a relationship that is on the brink of failing with her husband and daughter. A desire for acceptance follows throughout the novel, while differentiating cultures lead to tense family and community conflicts. When combined with a relationships falling apart, the novel paints a picture of these themes from start to finish.

Photos can be an illustrative material object to shape a story. But photos just reflect upon our memories and try to relate to the overall useless piece of paper. Photos may have value but they are essentially paper and just that. Photos are meaningless because each person just brings his own mental state of mind to the picture.

Before starting this project, I knew very little about photography, photographers, or exactly how much impact photographical images have had on our society. I have never taken a photography class, or researched too in depth about specific pictures or photographers. This project has allowed me to delve deeper into the world of photography in order to understand just how much influence pictures can have over society’s beliefs, emotions, and understandings’. I have have chosen two highly influential photographers, Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange, who I have found to both resonate with me and perfectly capture human emotions in way that moves others.

The photograph is a very powerful medium. The French painter Paul Delaroche exclaimed upon seeing an early photograph “from now on, painting is dead!” (Sayre, 2000). Many critics did not take photography seriously as a legitimate art form until the 20th century. With the

Marriage is a union many Americans hope to enter in their life. While some marriages last a lifetime, some sadly end in divorce. I got the honor to interview a lovely couple who have been married twenty-five years and are still standing strong today.

For example, a picture of one holding a red solo cup at a social gathering can lead to inaccurate assumptions about the character of the person. While the student may be innocently drinking Pepsi, an admissions officer may assume it is beer. Another example can occur when a student posts a photo of themself with their hunting rifle. An anti-gun admission committee may speculate the photo in an entirely different light. An innocent photo can be completely misread, and one’s opinion of another can be completely altered from just one faulty assumption. In addition, an applicant may be an entirely “changed” person, but pictures of their past can surface, leading to mistaken assumptions about the way they live. Overall, social media is not always an accurate depiction of who a person truly is, and as they say, “You can’t believe everything you see online.”

Sontag claims that “photography is, a social rite, but it can also be a defense against anxiety and a tool of power (page 130).” She backs her claim by stating “photographs give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal, they also help people to take possessions of space in which they are insecure.” (Sontag page 131). In other words, having pictures allows people to tell stories that may not be exactly true. I agree with Sontag because I have witnessed and experienced how pictures can hurt someone emotionally while empowering others.

The author Andrew Leonard has said "We've offered up every detail of our lives to advertiser manipulation, voluntarily embraced a panopticonic existence of constant surveillance, and supinely allowed a bunch of techno-utopian Silicon Valley companies to guide and shape our behavior."(Leonard). In this review the author agrees with Silverman about being under constant surveillance, he also agrees with Silverman that we should constantly be alert about the data that we put on social media as in this statement "Silverman is correct: It is critical that we monitor and understand the consequences of "the data-ization of the digital self." "(Leonard). Andrew does not agree with Silverman on the point "Photos become less about memorializing a moment than communicating the reality of that moment to others,"(Silverman, 55). Andres says that “Before social media, you could argue that the modern world specialized in tearing us apart, in atomizing the relationships that once bound societies together. Now we've got something that helps lace the grand tapestry back together. This is not a bad thing” (Leonard). In a way Andrew finds something good in Social

In addition, photography does it pivotal role by showing people the realities of life. One relevant example to this is photojournalism. Through photographic presentation, people are informed of the real situations of the stories about the real situations around the globe, may it be good or bad news. It is very easy to understand news or stories with photos attached to them. Therefore, photography is a powerful communication tool that embeds social happenings to the human awakening, with no other form of media can

Photographs are used to document history, however selected images are chosen to do so. Often times these images graphically show the cruelty of mankind. In her book, Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag asks, "What does it mean to protest suffering, as distinct from acknowledging it?" To acknowledge suffering is just to capture it, to point it out and show somebody else that it exists. In order to protest suffering, there has to be some sort of moral decision that what is shown in the photograph is wrong, and a want from the viewer to change that.