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Amy Fine Collins recommended Peeping Tom (1960) in Movies (curated)
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Regarding the Pain of Others in Books
Nov 8, 2017 (Updated Nov 8, 2017)
Not what I expected but powerful nevertheless
Acclaimed American writer Susan Sontag returns with an extended essay about photographing war and inhumane circumstances, an extension of her 1977 work "On Photography". I had expected a philosophical take on pain but this was still important nevertheless.
Sontag's earlier "On Photography" is justifiably regarded as a classic. This book is promoted as revising some of its more important arguments. Like the earlier book this is mainly a summary of points with which most teachers, and students, in this area are likely to be familiar. It is useful to have the arguments drawn together. Without doubt, Sontag's words exude intelligence, exploring how we look at painful images from photojournalists, our reaction to mass media, and how we interpret terrible news about war, even how we look at religious paintings.
She takes us on an argumental debate that covers all aspects of visual imagery through descriptive text. Shes talks of the shock and horror seen by some in photography, to how others see it as political leverage. What this book does, is to make us understand that one photographic image can have a double purpose, and that not all in a war image is truth. A good essay for the Sontag collection.
Sontag's earlier "On Photography" is justifiably regarded as a classic. This book is promoted as revising some of its more important arguments. Like the earlier book this is mainly a summary of points with which most teachers, and students, in this area are likely to be familiar. It is useful to have the arguments drawn together. Without doubt, Sontag's words exude intelligence, exploring how we look at painful images from photojournalists, our reaction to mass media, and how we interpret terrible news about war, even how we look at religious paintings.
She takes us on an argumental debate that covers all aspects of visual imagery through descriptive text. Shes talks of the shock and horror seen by some in photography, to how others see it as political leverage. What this book does, is to make us understand that one photographic image can have a double purpose, and that not all in a war image is truth. A good essay for the Sontag collection.