The author explores the limitations of pictures and what they entail, causing us to rethink what a picture is actually presenting, since it only shows us what the photographer wants us to see. Sontag’s discussion also included the different ways in which photographs had been used and how they reflected the violence that was exhibited during war. By providing the reader with these examples, Sontag set up a basis for her argument that pictures can greatly influence how a person perceives violence that they could not witness firsthand. Through visual proof, the atrocity of the violence can be conveyed on a greater scale, where there is no language barrier (Sontag 20). However, while visual evidence has its own authenticity, without any further explanation, it can be meaningless and its true identity skewed. A photograph can have a hidden meaning, and every person looks at photographs through their own unique lens. Therefore, a photograph can exhibit the power that words alone cannot, but without words, the truth about a captured point in time is never truly known. The same argument can be brought forth in the inverse direction. A specific description of an event can lose its authenticity if there is no visual
The author explores the limitations of pictures and what they entail, causing us to rethink what a picture is actually presenting, since it only shows us what the photographer wants us to see. Sontag’s discussion also included the different ways in which photographs had been used and how they reflected the violence that was exhibited during war. By providing the reader with these examples, Sontag set up a basis for her argument that pictures can greatly influence how a person perceives violence that they could not witness firsthand. Through visual proof, the atrocity of the violence can be conveyed on a greater scale, where there is no language barrier (Sontag 20). However, while visual evidence has its own authenticity, without any further explanation, it can be meaningless and its true identity skewed. A photograph can have a hidden meaning, and every person looks at photographs through their own unique lens. Therefore, a photograph can exhibit the power that words alone cannot, but without words, the truth about a captured point in time is never truly known. The same argument can be brought forth in the inverse direction. A specific description of an event can lose its authenticity if there is no visual