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Rebeca Rodriguez
UWRT 1102
Instructor: Fran Volt

December 9, y

Journal #10: Susan Sontag and Photography

In Susan Sontags essay, In Platos cave she explores the idea that people as a whole
have become desensitized by graphic images that circulate in the media. Comparing the camera
to a gun that one can aim as well as shoot gives humans a sense of naughtiness as they are
using a weapon in a unique form -since we are all image junkies expiring the high of the
camera. I agree with Sontag, looking through the lens of the camera has become an integral part
of our daily lives. Its true that we gage ones involvement in parenthood by the amount of
pictures taken of their child. I mean, why wouldnt you want to capture those milestones? By
forfeiting the responsibility of documenting a trip or something as precious as a childhood, you
in essence are not living life to its fullest extent because you will not be provided the luxury of
feeling nostalgia in later years when reflecting on those picture-less moments.
In regards to my own experiences, I am very sensitive to certain types of photographs.
Images of impoverished villages, the homeless, the starving and the dying strikes cords within
me that vibrate, sending pangs of distress that can be seen in my tense shoulders. With that being
said, the signal of distress is nullified if I spend time going through several horrific pictures in

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one sitting. Almost as if the high of the initial shock wears away within the few moments of
seeing several other pictures. They feel like old news as your mind has already stored a mental
image similar in content therefore lessening the shock after each exposure.
Todays digital world means everything comes with illustrations -it is what gives validity
to a subject. We do not believe the words of an article that doesnt have at least a snapshot of
whatever it is reporting. Seeing is believing and that could not better describe society today. The
detail many fail to recognize is that a photograph is very sensitive to its point of view which is
left up to the photographer. Frames can be shifted, cropped and even spliced together to create an
entirely new imagine. Truth is, photos are more of an art than they are of still recordings of
happenings, due of the ability to reconstruct its framing.
The media takes full advantage of societys heavy reliance on pictures and does so to
shape our way of thinking. Chained in our own little caves we call home, staring at the walls of
our screens, the media only projects shady images of what lies beyond. For many, these shady
images are sufficient at fulfilling their desires to feel nostalgic of places they have never actually
experienced. The neediness of wanting to feel connected to the outside world has produced a
society that is ironically enough distanced. In efforts to reach everything, all at the same time
people sit behind the walls of their caves trying to discern from all the images that keep them
informed and connected instead going out into the real world to experience them first hand. And
if the person does venture out of their cave, it is gladly done with their weapon of choice at hand
-the camera.

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There are plenty of cartoons that show generational differences by depicting masses of
young people reaching for their camera phones in order to capture and save a moment as
opposed to the elders of the group simply acting as bystanders, enjoying the view in realtime. I
do believe that the camera itself acts as a barrier between the world and the person, because there
is an immense difference in watching a spacecraft take off from behind a screen as oppose to
only the naked eye. The camera can only see so far. It merely frames what is in its line of
vision, whereas eyes and scan and search the entire area, picking up hundreds of tiny details that
formulate a true experience.
I am guilty of panicking if I leave my polaroid camera in the hotel room when I vacation.
I used to fear missing out on the nostalgia produced by trip pictures but I now realize
experiencing Puerto Rican waterfalls is no experience behind a lens. While everyone else stood
at a safe distance, careful not to get their cameras wet, I stood in the very front of the crowd;
Misted by the water, getting the true experience.