On Photography

On Photography. This influential 1977 collection of essays by Susan Sontag is a seminal work of photography criticism and cultural criticism. Originally published in The New York Review of Books, the book examines the profound philosophical, aesthetic, and social implications of the medium. Sontag’s analysis positions photography as a central force in shaping modern consciousness, perception, and reality itself.

History and development

The essays that constitute the work were developed over several years, with Sontag engaging deeply with the history of the medium from its invention by Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot. She traces its evolution from a technical curiosity to an indispensable tool of modernism, analyzing its relationship with other arts and its role in movements like Surrealism. The book’s publication coincided with a period of intense debate about the role of imagery in society, influenced by the work of critics like Walter Benjamin and the visual culture of the Vietnam War and American Civil Rights Movement. Its reception established Sontag as a leading public intellectual and framed critical discourse around photography for decades.

Social and cultural impact

Sontag argues that photography fundamentally altered human experience by creating a vast "image-world" that mediates our relationship with reality. She explores how it democratizes seeing while also creating a kind of visual consumerism, as seen in the proliferation of tourist photography and advertising. The book critically examines photography’s dual role in creating empathy, as in the work of Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee, and in fostering detachment, making events like those documented at Auschwitz concentration camp or during the Dust Bowl into aesthetic objects. This ambivalent power positions the medium as a key agent in the construction of collective memory and cultural heritage.

Technological evolution

While not a technical manual, the work is deeply concerned with how technological shifts change photography’s meaning. Sontag discusses the move from the cumbersome equipment of the 19th century to the portable Leica and the instantaneity promised by Polaroid. She presciently touches on themes that would explode with the digital revolution, such as the infinite reproducibility of images and the erosion of the photograph’s claim to documentary truth. The evolution from silver gelatin print to digital file underscores her central thesis about photography’s inherent ambiguity and its transformation from a record of presence to a malleable component of information culture.

Ethical and legal considerations

A core and enduring contribution of the book is its rigorous inquiry into the ethics of looking. Sontag questions the photographer’s right to take pictures, particularly of suffering, as seen in conflicts from the Spanish Civil War to the Vietnam War, raising issues of exploitation and voyeurism. She delves into the legal and moral complexities of portraiture and street photography, challenging notions of consent and privacy. The discussion prefigures contemporary debates about surveillance, the use of imagery by entities like the FBI, and the ownership of images in the age of social media platforms like Instagram.

Notable photographers and movements

Throughout her essays, Sontag analyzes the work of pivotal figures to illustrate her arguments. She references the modernist precision of Paul Strand, the humanist documentaries of Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration, and the surrealist-inspired fashion work of Cecil Beaton. Movements such as Pictorialism, Straight photography, and Documentary photography are examined not as stylistic shifts alone but as changing attitudes toward truth and art. Her critique extends to contemporaries like Diane Arbus, whose work she saw as challenging bourgeois norms, and the landscape tradition transformed by Ansel Adams at Yosemite National Park. Category:1977 non-fiction books Category:American essay collections Category:Photography books