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Summary: Makes you think about photography in completely new ways
Comment: I'm in my first year of a photography degree and this is one of the recommended texts. Despite being released in the 70's it's still very relevant.
The book is essentially a series of essays by Sontag. It's value is that Sontag knows her subject extremely well and, with reference to the great photographers, has constructed her essays in a way that really make you contemplate what photography is all about. Sontag was not a photographer herself so it's not a book of technique; it's about the interpretation and appreciation of other's work. If you're new to photographic theory as I was/am it may very well make you feel quite ignorant, as if you don't even know what a photograph really is any more. However, that's the point; to make you think. This most ubiquitous medium is now so common its almost unnoticed but the book gets under the skin of what photography is and why photographs are so appealing. It's not the easiest or lightest reading but conversely the essays are not over long.
If you're studying photography or art or are simply interested in more philosophical views on the subject I'd highly recommend this to open up new ways of thinking.
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Summary: Girl on Film
Comment: We were born into a world ruled by photography. From x-rays to holiday snaps, our memories and sense of self are now shaped by this magical little black box. But how has photography affected reality since its invention? Has our perception of the world changed since our gathering of images (either as photos or films) slowly spiralled out of control? Could we, perhaps, be undermining our notion of the real by treating photos as if they were more real than their subjects? (think of the people who felt 9/11 was "like a movie".)
In this collection of six essays, published in 1973, Susan Sontag brilliantly explores the origins of photography and how it has affected world culture (mostly western, though she has some intriguing points to make about China and Japan.) She proves, somewhat ruthlessly, that photography deposed poetry and painting as the main rulers of the art world; dismisses the Surrealists in one fell swoop; and even goes so far as to claim that photography single-handedly caused the Modernist movement (the first exhibition by the Impressionists, for example, took place in a photography studio; and many painters claimed photography freed them to explore abstract subjects.)
It helps if you know the work of some of the big names in photography, like Diane Arbus, since Sontag often uses their work to back up her arguments. But even if you have never picked up a camera before, you will find enough ideas in Sontag's essays to reflect on. I was particularly impressed with her prescient views on "reality" television, as well as disturbed by her conclusion that photography is leading us towards a supreme, and new, form of totalitarianism.
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Summary: Definately worth a read
Comment: After reading various books on photography technique I decided to find books which covered the theory behind it all. It is a very good read and a facinating insight if a little dry.
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Summary: The best source for photographic theory
Comment: This is an exceptional book and one that is best read by flicking through and reading litery snap shots of Sontags work. If you are about to do a photography course this is the book for you and if you have ever wondered about photography this book will inform you. I read two short quotes from this book to my father in law who has no real connection with photography, he walked away and said 'i thought a photograph was just a photograph" and asked if he could borrow the book... Thats how good it is....
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Summary: A Brilliant Work of Cultural Criticism
Comment: This is just a fantastic book. It is packed full of genuinely insightful material through which the reader is driven with a prose style that is clear, unprentious and energetic - often rhapsodic. Although the book has some content that is of particular interest to those living or interested in the United States, there is plenty that would appeal to any reader interested in photography generally and as a cultural phenomenon. Consider the following:
"Most tourists feel compelled to put a camera between themselves and whatever is remarkable they encounter. Unsure of their resonses they take a picture. This gives shape to the experience: stop, take a photo and move on. The method especially appeals to people handicapped by a ruthless work ethic - Germans, Japanese and Americans. Using a camera appeases the anxiety which the work-driven feel about not working ... "
