Quoting Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977

The camera makes reality atomic, manageable, and opaque. It is a view of the world which denies interconnectedness, continuity, but which confers on each moment the character of a mystery. Any photograph has multiple meanings; indeed, to see something in the form of a photograph is to encounter a potential object of fascination. The ultimate wisdom of the photographic image is to say: “There is the surface. Now think—or rather feel, intuit —what is beyond it, what the reality must be like if it looks this way.” Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy.Photography implies that we know about the world if we accept it as the camera records it. But this is the opposite of understanding, which starts from not accepting the world as it looks. All possibility of understanding is rooted in the ability to say no. Strictly speaking, one never understands anything from a photograph.

— Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977

12:34pm on August 20, 2024.


uid: 872483ae-f0c5-4127-b239-8a6ad9097062
creator: Silas Jelley
primary: references
secondary: quotes
available: 2024-08-20 12:34:16
created: 2024-08-20 12:34:16
updated: 2024-08-20 12:34:16
slug: 2024/08/20/123416
source: {'title': 'On Photography', 'creator': 'Susan Sontag', 'year': 1977, 'text': 'The camera makes reality atomic, manageable, and opaque. It is a view of the\nworld which denies interconnectedness, continuity, but which confers on each\nmoment the character of a mystery. Any photograph has multiple meanings; indeed,\nto see something in the form of a photograph is to encounter a potential object\nof fascination. The ultimate wisdom of the photographic image is to say: “There\nis the surface. Now think—or rather feel, intuit —what is beyond it, what the\nreality must be like if it looks this way.” Photographs, which cannot themselves\nexplain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and\nfantasy.Photography implies that we know about the world if we accept it as the\ncamera records it. But this is the opposite of understanding, which starts from\nnot accepting the world as it looks. All possibility of understanding is rooted\nin the ability to say no. Strictly speaking, one never understands anything from\na photograph.', 'wordcount': 155, 'html': 'The camera makes reality atomic, manageable, and opaque. It is a view of the\nworld which denies interconnectedness, continuity, but which confers on each\nmoment the character of a mystery. Any photograph has multiple meanings; indeed,\nto see something in the form of a photograph is to encounter a potential object\nof fascination. The ultimate wisdom of the photographic image is to say: “There\nis the surface. Now think—or rather feel, intuit —what is beyond it, what the\nreality must be like if it looks this way.” Photographs, which cannot themselves\nexplain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and\nfantasy.Photography implies that we know about the world if we accept it as the\ncamera records it. But this is the opposite of understanding, which starts from\nnot accepting the world as it looks. All possibility of understanding is rooted\nin the ability to say no. Strictly speaking, one never understands anything from\na photograph.\n'}
filename: /home/silas/notes/2024/08/20/123416.md
title: Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977
interlinks: set()
backlinks: set()
tags: []
wordcount: 0