Girl on Film

Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1973
We were born into a world ruled by photography. From x-rays to holiday snaps, our memories and sense of self are now shaped by this magical little black box. But how has photography affected reality since its invention? Has our perception of the world changed since our gathering of images (either as photos or films) slowly spiralled out of control? Could we, perhaps, be undermining our notion of the real by treating photos as if they were more real than their subjects? (think of the people who felt 9/11 was "like a movie".)

In this collection of six essays, published in 1973, Susan Sontag brilliantly explores the origins of photography and how it has affected world culture (mostly western, though she has some intriguing points to make about China and Japan.) She proves, somewhat ruthlessly, that photography deposed poetry and painting as the main rulers of the art world; dismisses the Surrealists in one fell swoop; and even goes so far as to claim that photography single-handedly caused the Modernist movement (the first exhibition by the Impressionists, for example, took place in a photography studio; and many painters claimed photography freed them to explore abstract subjects.)

It helps if you know the work of some of the big names in photography, like Diane Arbus, since Sontag often uses their work to back up her arguments. But even if you have never picked up a camera before, you will find enough ideas in Sontag's essays to reflect on. I was particularly impressed with her prescient views on "reality" television, as well as disturbed by her conclusion that photography is leading us towards a supreme, and new, form of totalitarianism.