ovenbird_reads 's review for:

On Photography by Susan Sontag

3.0

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This was a brilliant book in many ways. I didn't enjoy it as much as I might have because I really didn't agree with Sontag on a number of points. She compares photography a number of times to rape and cultural appropriation. I think such comparisons are overblown and I had a hard time with the argument because of it. She is also vehement in her criticisms of the activity of photographing and never points out an instance where creating photographic images is a worth while pursuit. I found her attack on photography a bit unbalanced and perhaps unfair.

At the same time Sontag has produced a fascinating history of photography and has explored in detail what it means to live in an image saturated world. She makes some fascinating arguments about how the constant bombardment of images changes the way we view reality. This is well worth a read for anyone with any interest in photography as well as anyone interested in advertising, photo-journalism, or historical photos.

This book was written in the 70s but is still completely relevant even though photo technology has changed. In fact, it's creepily prophetic in places. Sontag anticipates how images will continue to infiltrate our lives and change the way we see the world.