If you could capture a moment in time, what would it be? Well, possibly to your surprise, these moments are already on your wall, in your wallet or saved on your computer. They are photographs; snippets of a time or place you want to keep. In her essay On Photography, Susan Sontag argues that photography distorts our view of reality and blinds us to the real world around us. This argument lacks support, as there is strong evidence in opposition. In reality, photographs expand our understanding of the world. Telescopes, MRI scans, and underwater cameras have allowed us to see things of which we would otherwise be unaware. Additionally, Sontag argues that “one never understands anything from a photograph.” This statement is wildly inaccurate. One may not understand everything from a photograph, but one certainly learns something from a picture. After all, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and those words must create some sort of understanding in the viewer’s mind. Sontag also argues that a photograph doesn’t give us a perfect view of situation, but this argument implies that a perfect view exists. A perfect view of anything does not exist. There are multiple points of view in any situation and a photograph merely captures one of those points of view. If Sontag accepts that a photograph merely captures an instant, then her argument falls apart. A picture helps us see an instant in time that is often very valuable to our understanding of the world around us.

“Photography limits our understanding of the world”

satellite-display-in-google-earth …….But does it? Satellite images of the earth allow us to map our world more efficiently so devices like GPS can be used so people can with increased ease.

/lecture11/lecture11.html Not only have photographs helped us on a huge scale, microscopes have also helped us to identify dangerous bacteria such as the E.coli shown above. …Or this cancer cell that we wouldn’t have an understanding of without the help of microscopic photography.

When in the dark, the human brain creates a visual reality that does not exist, yet seems very real. In the same sense, when a person is in the dark in a sense of lacking knowledge, the mind also creates a reality of sorts, using emotions and assumptions to jump to a conclusion lacking logic.

People have unique understandings of the same thing—Arby’s is a different experience for all of these people. Every person’s perceptions are subjective, so there is no “perfect” way to understand something, therefore photography, while it can be misleading, helps us learn new information--you still learn that Arby’s wants to appeal to a diverse group of people, among other things. Fingerprints are just one phenomenon that show how no two people are exactly alike. In our perceptions of the world around us, we also differ; we have our own “biases.” Therefore, the distortion or “bias” in photography shouldn’t keep us from using it.

“One never understands anything from a photograph.” Climate maps help us understand the world around us. MRI scans can help us see brain tumors. Photos give us a view into the universe.

Photography can help us better understand physics concepts. Underwater pictures give us a view of what we otherwise could not see.

In short, Sontag’s arguments against photography have been proved irrelevant. There is no perfect understanding of our world, and photography has helped us to piece together knowledge to the best of our abilities in all fields of study. While Sontag’s claim was false at the time it was written, it is considerably more false now considering the reliance on photography for a better understanding of the universe and our own world.

Photo Credits: Faniq.com Sciencebehindthings.com Aboynamedxander.blogspot.com thephysicsfront.org/features/FeatureArchive.cfm?Type=Image&Skip=10 bestfishes.net/gallery.htm grossmont.edu/judd.curran/outline3.htm personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~ml01288/Page2.html