Behind the Photograph from In Plato’s Cave by Susan Sontag
Photography is our record that something existed, that a piece of time captured within a lens happened, that we were here. It captures reality, even with distortion, and is taken as the transparent truth of an occurrence of experience. It can be art, but it can also be a tool, a form of delight, a proof of events. It has become a part of the family ritual, from taking wedding photos to pictures of children to memories of family trips. It is both a trophy and a way of remembering. It now seems strange to experience something without taking a picture of it, whether you look back at it years later or leave it in some forgotten album on the top shelf to be layered in dust. The photograph gives immortality and organization to the world, something that no other object or “thing” can do.
Photography can be a weapon, holding the past or a still second in time hostage, easily capturing a fantastical scene. It creates nostalgia. Sontag uses the Latin term momento mori meaning “remember you must die”. Photography is a reminder that it is taking a second of life that will not always exist, proving our own mortality while relentlessly trying to immortalize the world around us. Photographs can accentuate both revulsion and desire, unlike what a video can do. It is more private, a select piece of time with only a second to capture that moment. People can easily connect or feel compassion towards these images, especially if these photos contain the horrors of our world. Photography fills in the gaps with whatever distorted reality it creates, holding immortality between thin pieces of film, only reminding us of our own mortality.
