Through the writing of Susan Sontag in the collection of essays with in the book On Photography the world has begun to question and analyze the affect of photography, and what can be perceived as absolute truth. Sontag compares the philosophical idea of Plato’s Cave to depict her beliefs of modern photography. Although her ideas have deemed to be controversial, they certainly have gotten the worlds attention, thus causing the mass speculation of what really is the truth behind photography.
Plato is the philosopher who imagined a scenario now known as Plato’s Cave, where a group of people was fooled by shadows dancing on the wall of their cave, believing they were live spirits. These shadows were in fact people dancing behind a fire that they were not able to see. Sontag uses this vision as an analogy to explain her perspective of what photography truly is; Sontag believes the camera provides the world with lies. People believe in the obvious, the captured moment in time, the proof. It is necessary for a person to have a concrete piece of evidence in order to believe something is the truth, which is why photography can be so dangerous. Without context to an event, pictures can be extremely deceiving. While photographs do show a piece of the truth, it can never be certain whether or not the photo is unbiased and not showing a skewed version of what is actually occurring. Sontag believes that photographs are the shadows on the wall. Yes, the shadows do exist, like the moment the picture was taken, but in reality the spirits are in fact just shadows, like the moment the picture was taken is only a small part of the truth.
Another way in which photographs can be extremely biased is through the work of the photographer. The photographer is free to skew the image whichever way they please, and can do this in several different ways. A person who captures a moment on film can show just his or her own perspective. For example in a war zone, a photographer might take a gruesome picture of a soldier from one country killing another. This photograph automatically makes the killer seem vicious and cruel, causing the viewer of the photo to have sympathy for the victim, when in fact the victim may have just injured the killer’s family. Who knows what the truth is? All the viewer sees is that specific second, and from just that they can draw up their own conclusions.
Another way in which the photographer can alter the entire idea behind the photograph is through modern technology. These days, cameras come with programs that allow the photographer to completely revise the original picture. For example many computer programs enable the photographer to crop the picture, remove imperfections, and brighten the colors. With the program Photoshop the photographer can combine two pictures and create an entirely different photo. These programs allow the creation of something that is not real, an event that did not occur; these photographs are made up of lies. Sontag comments that the world is full of cameras, not necessarily photographers. Today, any one person can take a picture and make it extraordinary using the tools given to us through modern technology. Sontag makes her readers question what it truly means to be a photographer.
Whether a “true” photographer or an amateur, photography allows everyone to express his or her beliefs and produce images that create a window into their world. Within every photograph lies an experience that the photographer has. Families use a camera to document memories: the holidays, birthdays, talent shows. Other photographers use a camera for their profession: at a fashion shoot for Vogue, or on an African safari for National Geographic. The difference between photography and seeing is the experience. Photography might produce an image that evokes a memory, but actually seeing allows a person to absorb an event and remember internally. What a person sees also can affect their photography. For example, a photography blog may only contain what a person sees every single day. The images are limited to and represent the bubble in which that person lives: their father’s guitar, the flowers in their backyard. But once the view of what that person sees changes, like moving to a new city, or going off to college, their photography is open to a whole new world, and a whole new perspective. The way in which a person experiences the world changes the entire dynamic between seeing and photography.
Susan Sontag presents the truth about photography from an entirely new perspective. Her allusion to Plato’s Cave requires the reader to question what photography means to them, and whether they believe photography to be made of lies. Although photography is an amazing form of artistic expression, Sontag is correct in her beliefs. Photographs are made from a photographer’s personal perspective and ideology, causing pictures to be made up of opinions and bias, not true events. The way a person sees the world contributes to how and where they take pictures. To see is to also experience and remember, instead of just viewing pictures that solely represent memories. Overall, through the work of Susan Sontag, photography has transformed to a whole new dimension, exposing the personal question: Is the world of photography only shadows on the cave wall?
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