Photographs

How could one make the generalization that all photography presents (to a degree) false knowledge? It is true that all pictures are taken with a purpose; however, that purpose doesn't always have to corrupt our understanding of the subject. Sure, some photographs do bring out certain emotions for a reason, but Sontag makes a mistake in fervently asserting that all pictures do so. Photographs included in scientific journals, for example, may simply show the reader what color petals the newest invasive species has on its flowers. In this instance, there is no hidden meaning whatsoever, and therefore, no reason to ponder what the photographer meant in capturing a plant.

That aside, Sontag does conclude with a rather eye-opening point: "needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted." Again, that's quite the conjecture. Is that child in southeastern Asia who just got sold into slavery truly intent on uploading a smiling selfie with the caption, "haha just got #kidnapped"? However, Sontag's reasoning does apply to the majority of America, and in particular, its youth, whose future consequently doesn't look too good. In that sense, photography really has changed, and as all things that have to do with cell phones these days, it now has more sinister undertones.

Think about that model you follow on Instagram. How many times a day does she post? Probably two or three. She pays a photographer good money to take pictures of her traveling, eating, posing...essentially documenting her entire life. She's making money off of you while potentially putting herself at risk. But she's not the only one: what do you do when you dress up and go somewhere nice? You take pictures. Maybe you  put a couple up on Snapchat. Basically every trip to the beach turns into a photo op. At one point, there was actually a trending caption that you might have placed under your photo: "pics or it didn't happen." The point is, taking pictures now takes up a great deal more time than it might have forty years ago (understandably because of developments in camera accessibility and prices). The problem isn't the pictures, though; it's what others might do with them, and how much time and money we spend freeze-framing our personal lives.