Sontag's Writings

Yes indeed, Sontag does make some radical claims. One in particular, that I see truth in, is the claim that although photographs can “abet desire in the most direct, utilitarian way”, the matter is more complex when photographs are use to stimulate moral impulse. One can see how a dirty magazine is a collection of the most basic images of desire to aid in a specific response, arousal. I see and agree with her notion that desire has no history. I see her notion as the idea that desire and intimacy is everywhere (“in all foregrounds”) - imbedded in to all forms of nature. It being a part of all history, it has been and is everywhere and there for is nowhere, or better put, seemingly “abstract”. To use a photograph to invoke moral feelings is more complex. She goes on to say that these moral feelings are imbedded in to history. I do agree with that idea. I think that if you take a look at any culture in the world or even any functioning society you will see clearly their structure of moral beliefs and feelings. It is what we as people are taught as right and wrong, however it may be perceived. But where do we get our moral beliefs from? Our parents and they learned from theirs and so on and so forth. When you take a broad enough look, you realize that it has been something imposed on mankind since the beginning of time. It has stretched across many cultures and taken many different forms. I see that most moral belief systems are usually somewhat rooted from religion. In general, America’s belief system is loosely based on the Judeo-Christian belief. None the less, what ever beliefs you may embody, they are the ideals that we as individuals have come to see if not live by. When images are seen and those images show great, ghastly, and gory contradictions to those moral belief and standards that we have set forth, then the complex mater of the image stimulates a moral impulse and response to such images. A good example that we have seen in our readings is Lewis Hine’s photos for the National child labor committee. Those pictures showed children’s deterioration overtime due to the workload, and exposed them to a wide range of viewers. It was specific, it was concrete, it questioned and evoked the moral beliefs of the viewer. It caused awareness and upheaval. It hit home and struck a moral cord in the public because so. It depends on the degree of familiarity with these images, your belief s and moral feelings that will ultimately decided how the viewer will perceive it.