1. Is the media the reason that we continue to have wars?
2. Is it necessary to photograph and/or document the dead?
3. Should we blame the technology, or should we blame our culture for these actions?
Sontag’s article “Regarding the
Pain of Others” evoked a constant emotional response from me throughout the
reading. I am very easily disturbed, and found it very difficult to read about
some of the things that occur out in the world, especially when it comes to
torture and the publication of it. I believe Sontag made some very strong
points throughout her article, including that the gross need for humans to
documents such actions is obscene and unnecessary. However, there was one point
I strongly disagreed with her on; at one point, she quotes Ernst Junger as
saying that “There is no war without photography.” She furthers this
idea, comparing the “shooting” of a camera to the “shooting” of a human being.
While this is a shell-shocking comparison, it didn’t sit quite right with me. I
have to disagree that cameras and the media is the main proponent behind the
continuance of war. War will occur whether or not the media is there to capture
and display it. However, I agree with the rest of the article, that at some
points, the media’s intrusion into a battleground can have negative effects,
such as when people stage shootings or marches all for the sake of the camera.
I also disagreed with her disgust against the people who photographed their
prisoners before executing them; although the killing itself is horrible and
mindless, I believe that it was just a method of organization; the pictures
themselves were not harmful. In addition, I believe that although horrifying to
recognize the face of a loved one in a photograph knowing that they were killed
soon afterwards, I would rather have someone take one last picture of them than
have them slaughtered on a battlefield and thrown into a mass grave, never to
know exactly what their fate had been. In the end, I suppose I believe that
photography is useful at times, but for the most part, no kind of documentation
should be made showing horrifying, brutal images just for the sake of having
the images.
It was hard for me to read too. I took away something else from that quote though. I did not look at it as photography perpetuating war if that's what you are eluding to. I agree whole heartedly that photography is crucial in any of these high conflict situations. I feel like the documentation is essential to see where we are, where we came from so we can try to figure out where we are going. You bring up a good point about having the photos just for the sake of having them. People like gruesome things by nature I think because it reminds us of our mortality and reminds us that we are glad we are not the receiver of the violence. We see this where people slow down on the freeway to see an accident or enjoy seeing a horror movie. That kind of gruesome sociopathic behavior is unnecessary and should not be encouraged.
ReplyDeleteReading this excerpt again, I think the point of Sontag's analogy between "shooting" a photo and "shooting" a person is that photography can put us at an emotional distance from the subject, just as killing necessarily does. However, this is one possible function of photography that she explores. I think we can infer that are other, more humane possibilities.
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