Books: “Regarding the Pain of Others” by Susan Sontag

Another art classic I wouldn’t have come across if it wasn’t for Jamie @ BooksActually. It is funny how the books one reads form a galaxy of references to a thought process – our choices stemming from some conscientious pursuit. A book recommendation from someone of trusted taste can help expand that galactic collection in an entirely different way – a butterfly effect, of sorts. Therefore, to recommend a book is an immense task with unknown (and in this case, wonderful) consequences.

“Regarding the Pain of Others” is an essay on the moral obligation of the photographer, specifically the war-time journalist. Do ‘we’ as consumers have the right to look upon pain of others, and if so for what purpose – to conjure up sympathy, anger, patriotism, even consumerism? Or can photographs be used as collective memory?

It is hard to pinpoint Sontag’s conclusion to her own questions, as she herself wavers in what sue believes photographs offer to our history. We learn that anything can be taken out of context if the point of view is manipulated. Even a ‘true’ photo can change its meaning and therefore our history by its caption. What is important is to THINK, from our own point of view, and from there channel empathy; not just accessing the emotion from glancing at a photo. And most clearly, not to judge others so easily, even the photojournalists are willing to put themselves in harms way, to see from behind the lens, what most of us only view on TV or play on videogames.

“In contrast to a written account – which, depending on its complexity of thought, reference, and vocabulary, is pitched at a larger or smaller readership – a photograph has only one language and is destined potentially for all.”

“The image as shock and the image as cliché are two aspects of the same presence.”

“The familiarity of certain photographs builds our sense of the present and immediate past. Photographs lay down routes of reference and serve as totems of causes: sentiment is more likely to crystallize around a photograph than around a verbal slogan…Photographs that everyone recognizes are now a constituent part of what a society chooses to think about, or declares that is has chosen to think about it.”

“There is simply too much injustice in the world. And too much remembering (of ancient grievances: Serbs, Irish) embitters. To make peace is to forget. To reconcile, it is necessary that memory be faulty and limited.”