more on photography

After finishing reading Sontag’s, book On Photography I feel that it has affirmed my belief in the importance of being present in the moment, of living each moment, taking it in and living life to the full. Photography is a type of consumption – we consume photos quicker as technology improves. With the advent of digital cameras and iPhoto and computerised documenting of photos, we are taking more photos and keeping more. But we can never reach our need for the consumption of photos – “As we make images and consume them, we need still more images; and still more”, says Sontag. She describes it as a lust, which cannot be satisfied: “first, because the possibilities of photography are infinite; and second, because the project is finally self-devouring”.

The consumption of photography is also due to the accessibility of it – it is both easy to participate in (to take photos or be in them) and easy to appreciate them. This makes photography quite different from other art forms such as painting and literature, which require greater time, and an often more advanced understanding of how to see (ie cultural literacy).

Some other thoughts from Sontag’s book: “One can’t possess reality, one can possess (and be possessed by) images… one can’t possess the present but one can possess the past”. It’s almost as though by taking a photo we are ignoring the present, but documenting the past… an interesting thought. Garry Winogrand has said, “I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed”.

I like Jonathan’s idea of a challenge to take the most boring, uninteresting, or worthless photo – perhaps this could be our new challenge for a flickr group? My photo for this post is an example…