Analysis of "on photography" by Susan Sontag
On Photography is a 1977 collection of essays by Susan Sontag. It is a series of essays in the New York Review of books between 1973 and 1977. Susan Sontag expresses several views and ideas about photography to educate us further about her views. In Sontag's view, "to collect photography is to collect the world". Sontag says the man has developed dependence on photography for the sake of the mere ability to experience something that has meaning. By converting the experience into an image photography gives shape, and time, to the transient experience. In other words, we need the camera in order to realize and substantiate our experiences. But though photography capture a moment and gives it meaning, its power is not constant. Repetition of images, be it horror or pornography, takes the edge off their affective capacities and the event becomes less real. While it’s true that the world is progressing more towards the “image-world” as Sontag describes it, it is inevitable...