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"A brilliant analysis of the profound changes photographic images have made in our way of looking at the world and at ourselves over the last 140 years."--"Washington Post Book World"
"Every page of "On Photography" raises important and exciting questions about its subject and raises them in the best way.""--""The New York Times Book Review"
"A book of great importance and originality . . . All future discussion or analysis of the role of photography in the affluent mass-media societies are now bound to begin with her book."--John Berger
"Not many photographs are worth a thousand of [Susan Sontag's] words."--Robert Hughes, Time
"After Sontag, photography must be written about not only as a force in the arts, but as one that is increasingly powerful in the nature and destiny of our global society."--"Newsweek"
""On Photography" is to my mind the most original and illuminating study of the subject."--Calvin Trillin, " The New Yorker"""
"Every page of "On Photography" raises important and exciting questions about its subject and raises them in the best way.""--""The New York Times Book Review"
"A book of great importance and originality . . . All future discussion or analysis of the role of photography in the affluent mass-media societies are now bound to begin with her book."--John Berger
"Not many photographs are worth a thousand of [Susan Sontag's] words."--Robert Hughes, Time
"After Sontag, photography must be written about not only as a force in the arts, but as one that is increasingly powerful in the nature and destiny of our global society."--"Newsweek"
""On Photography" is to my mind the most original and illuminating study of the subject."--Calvin Trillin, " The New Yorker"""
Product Description
How do we see the world around us? The Penguin on Design series includes the works of creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision forever.
Susan Sontag’s groundbreaking critique of photography asks forceful questions about the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding this art form. Photographs are everywhere. They have the power to shock, idealize or seduce, they create a sense of nostalgia and act as a memorial, and they can be used as evidence against us or to identify us. In six incisive essays, Sontag examines the ways in which we use these omnipresent images to manufacture a sense of reality and authority in our lives.
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First Sentence
Humankind lingers unregenerately in Plato's cave, still reveling, its age-old habit, in mere images of the truth. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Humankind lingers unregenerately in Plato's cave, still reveling, its age-old habit, in mere images of the truth. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm in my first year of a photography degree and this is one of the recommended texts. Despite being released in the 70's it's still very relevant.
The book is essentially a series of essays by Sontag. It's value is that Sontag knows her subject extremely well and, with reference to the great photographers, has constructed her essays in a way that really make you contemplate what photography is all about. Sontag was not a photographer herself so it's not a book of technique; it's about the interpretation and appreciation of other's work. If you're new to photographic theory as I was/am it may very well make you feel quite ignorant, as if you don't even know what a photograph really is any more. However, that's the point; to make you think. This most ubiquitous medium is now so common its almost unnoticed but the book gets under the skin of what photography is and why photographs are so appealing. It's not the easiest or lightest reading but conversely the essays are not over long.
If you're studying photography or art or are simply interested in more philosophical views on the subject I'd highly recommend this to open up new ways of thinking.
The book is essentially a series of essays by Sontag. It's value is that Sontag knows her subject extremely well and, with reference to the great photographers, has constructed her essays in a way that really make you contemplate what photography is all about. Sontag was not a photographer herself so it's not a book of technique; it's about the interpretation and appreciation of other's work. If you're new to photographic theory as I was/am it may very well make you feel quite ignorant, as if you don't even know what a photograph really is any more. However, that's the point; to make you think. This most ubiquitous medium is now so common its almost unnoticed but the book gets under the skin of what photography is and why photographs are so appealing. It's not the easiest or lightest reading but conversely the essays are not over long.
If you're studying photography or art or are simply interested in more philosophical views on the subject I'd highly recommend this to open up new ways of thinking.
36 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an exceptional book and one that is best read by flicking through and reading litery snap shots of Sontags work. If you are about to do a photography course this is the book for you and if you have ever wondered about photography this book will inform you. I read two short quotes from this book to my father in law who has no real connection with photography, he walked away and said 'i thought a photograph was just a photograph" and asked if he could borrow the book... Thats how good it is....
59 of 71 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is just a fantastic book. It is packed full of genuinely insightful material through which the reader is driven with a prose style that is clear, unprentious and energetic - often rhapsodic.
Although the book has some content that is of particular interest to those living or interested in the United States, there is plenty that would appeal to any reader interested in photography generally and as a cultural phenomenon. Consider the following:
"Most tourists feel compelled to put a camera between themselves and whatever is remarkable they encounter. Unsure of their resonses they take a picture. This gives shape to the experience: stop, take a photo and move on. The method especially appeals to people handicapped by a ruthless work ethic - Germans, Japanese and Americans. Using a camera appeases the anxiety which the work-driven feel about not working ... "
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Before Photoshop...
This is a collection of six essays on the nature and practitioners of photography which were written by Susan Sontag in the early `70's. Read more
Published 11 months ago by John P. Jones III
Sontag's On Photography
A meaty and complex, in-depth analysis on the consequences from the development of the photographic process, it's influences on art,culture and society and it's long fight to be... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Miranda
Very Fast
The book came very quickly to my house. Overall it was a very smooth process and I would buy from them again.
Published 15 months ago by AaronH
Christmas presents
The two books ordered came very quickly. They were Christmas presents for my son. The packaging in perfect condition. Thank you very much and a Happy New Year to you all.
Published 17 months ago by Katag
Great Book
This is a great book to everyone who likes to take picture.
This is not a book about "how to take pictures". It's about photography in general.
This is not a book about "how to take pictures". It's about photography in general.
Published 17 months ago by Joćo Costa
I enjoyed it
I enjoyed this book. However I believe it is one of those reads that must be tasted a little at a time.
Published 19 months ago by Ettore Vulcano
Not for the Art History scholar but great for general reader who wants...
This is one of the best known books on the cultural context of photography and is quite insightful for the general reader. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by Ann Margret Murray
Insights into the world of photography
Sontag has created a 'Ways of Seeing' for the photographer, only with a lot more text! A controversial and stimulating read.
Published on 30 Aug 2009 by Prospective Gapper
People forget
Photography has always been a grubby little medium to most intellectuals and critics who came from a mainstream arts background. Read more
Published on 18 May 2009 by Cakeman
Girl on Film
We were born into a world ruled by photography. From x-rays to holiday snaps, our memories and sense of self are now shaped by this magical little black box. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Oliver Redfern
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