- Quote: “We want a photographer to be a spy in the house of love and of death, and those being photographed to be unaware of the camera, “off guard.” No sophisticated sense of what photography is or can be will ever weaken the satisfactions of a picture of an unexpected event seized in mid-action by an alert photographer” (Sontag 55).
- Comment: During the past few pages leading up to this quote, Sontag talks about the rearrangement that photographers do in war photography to make a picture look better. For example the Brady team had rearranged a dead confederate soldier to a more photogenic site for the picture. This is true for any photography – the photographers move elements around to try and get the best shot, which is seen to be true with even immobilized people. I feel as though this is not how it should be with war photography, because you’re now taking away from the realness and authenticity of the scene. Learning about this “staging” leads to this sense of disappointment almost. I like in the quote above where it says “We want a photographer to be a spy in the house of love and death” because that is where the real authenticity lies – in the realness of the scene rather than the staging of it. Growing up with social media, we understand the capturing of “candid” photos, and staging things that aren’t real -because they will look more aesthetically pleasing. I guess we had to expect that some war photos were going to be staged in order to look more pleasing to the public.
- Question: How many of the most memorable and well-known war pictures we’ve seen were staged?
- Comment: During the past few pages leading up to this quote, Sontag talks about the rearrangement that photographers do in war photography to make a picture look better. For example the Brady team had rearranged a dead confederate soldier to a more photogenic site for the picture. This is true for any photography – the photographers move elements around to try and get the best shot, which is seen to be true with even immobilized people. I feel as though this is not how it should be with war photography, because you’re now taking away from the realness and authenticity of the scene. Learning about this “staging” leads to this sense of disappointment almost. I like in the quote above where it says “We want a photographer to be a spy in the house of love and death” because that is where the real authenticity lies – in the realness of the scene rather than the staging of it. Growing up with social media, we understand the capturing of “candid” photos, and staging things that aren’t real -because they will look more aesthetically pleasing. I guess we had to expect that some war photos were going to be staged in order to look more pleasing to the public.
- Quote: “Admiration is mixed with disapproval of the pictures for the pain they might give the female relatives of the dead. The camera brings the viewer close, too close; supplemented by a magnifying glass – for this is a double lens story- the “terrible distinctness” of the pictures gives unnecessary, indecent information” (Sontag 63).
- Comment: This whole concept of “censorship” is talked about throughout this whole chapter (4). What should be shown to the public, and what should be kept private for the sake of the families and even just to prevent the shock and gruesomeness to the regular public. There were even bans put into place about certain press photography of war, and which military photographers were allowed to go near the fighting. I personally think this is smart, because there are some things that should be kept private, for the sake and dignity of the person in the picture and the families. I know that I do not like seeing the faces of the dead in war pictures, and this is why I liked that they started to stop this. Especially, imagine how it felt to be a family member of someone in a gruesome war photo depicting the pain in their eyes.
- Question: When did they come to this realization that some pictures should be kept private? How did they choose which military photographers were allowed to capture images of the fighting?
- Comment: This whole concept of “censorship” is talked about throughout this whole chapter (4). What should be shown to the public, and what should be kept private for the sake of the families and even just to prevent the shock and gruesomeness to the regular public. There were even bans put into place about certain press photography of war, and which military photographers were allowed to go near the fighting. I personally think this is smart, because there are some things that should be kept private, for the sake and dignity of the person in the picture and the families. I know that I do not like seeing the faces of the dead in war pictures, and this is why I liked that they started to stop this. Especially, imagine how it felt to be a family member of someone in a gruesome war photo depicting the pain in their eyes.
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