Sontag Response to the Photograph

        The photograph has become a way of experiencing reality. Everything in the world exists to end up in a photograph, creating an endless array of privileged moments. The past is no longer re-lived through memory, but through photographs. Our views of the world become collections of “unrelated, freestanding particles,” or series of static images objects remaining frozen in time while time pushes forward, allowing for unlimited amounts of photographs to be taken and viewed as the primary way of emphasizing and memorializing our life experiences.

        Here, we have what appears to be a family snapshot: one single moment captured and preserved in time, in which a mother stands with her two daughters, dog, and cat, all atop a grassy hill somewhere in the countryside. Specific location is unknown; however, in a way it is unnecessary. The essence of the space is what matters. The surroundings are scenic and quite lovely. One could infer that the space in which the photograph is taken is meant to match the intended ‘loveliness’ of the moment captured. This is a familiar scene. To the anonymous viewer, it can become rather a mundane image in the sense that the photograph itself becomes somewhat of an anonymous photograph. Unless you have some connection to the people in the photograph, the image functions as a universal symbol of something with an experience with which everyone can relate. The members of the family are all in the same place. The call for a picture to be taken is made. Everyone shuffles together into a loose assembly in front of the camera, whether they want to be involved or not. The photographer attempts to coordinate all participants into looking their very best all at the same time, just long enough to snap the picture and send everybody off to resume whatever they were previously doing.

        Organizing a significant gathering without planning to have any cameras present is a rare occasion in our current day society. While having a memorable experience is obviously most important for the present moment of the occasion, this tends to become somewhat lost after the occasion ends and time begins to pass. Producing a nice ‘portrait’ is often one of the goals of such a gathering. In a way, the experience of the event that brought the family together in the first place often becomes unimportant compared to the importance of having a photograph or two by which to remember it.

        These photographs exist to promote nostalgia. They serve as periodic milestones for a lifetime, as photographic evidence of an event taking place and of certain participants being involved. When someone finds a family photograph years later, they will feel a sense of love and happiness upon first glance at the scene. They’ll think of the time that has passed since the photograph was taken. But will re-live that point in time by recalling their personal memories of the experience of actually being there? Or will they think about the experience in terms of how the photograph came to exist? This could mean the moments just before it was taken, assembling everyone together and forcing smiles all around for just long enough to get the shot…then afterwards, everyone filing out of the frame when the camera has been lowered, relieved that they’ve hopefully captured what they wanted – something at which they could look and remember. I would argue that the latter is true more often than not.

        Viewing the photograph becomes the way to re-experience the event, but in a different way. Photographs are experience captured, but they have become more meaningful than actual experience. To photograph is to appropriate reality, to break it up into pieces. However, it creates a new way of seeing the world as moments in the past. In terms of the family photograph, viewing it becomes a way to remember the moment when the picture was taken, as well as other moments from this day captured in time and translated into other static images. The photograph surpasses the ever-changing world by remaining as a static image, as an object that can be viewed at any time. The photograph as an object touches on our universal desires to travel backwards in time and reach the unattainable. This desire is enhanced by the distance that separates then from now. Photographs hold a tremendous amount of importance because of this ability to evoke a desire to collapse time. Just by looking at one single moment that has been, for whatever reason, dignified by the photographer as worthy of being photographed and transformed into a static visual image, an immeasurable sense of longevity and immortality arises and sticks with us. The photograph gives us an imaginary possession of the past. It is this unique quality that has allowed photographs to become a new and alternative way of experiencing and remembering reality.



        Here are 5 photographs that bear some visual resemblance to the photograph posted on BB...some were taken from Facebook, others from Google Images. But, my intention was to find 5 different examples of 'family' photographs: