“Having a photograph of Shakespeare would be likehaving a nail from the True Cross.” – Sontag p154
Sontagfeels very strongly that people hold photographs to be very important. It is true that society places a high valueon pictures, as she later explains; we won’t even throw away pictures out of asort of superstitious belief. I foundthis quote interesting as a Christian/ not a huge Shakespeare fan. Personally I believe that one of three nailsthat held the Messiah to the cross where he died for our sins holds more significancethan a 16th century playwright. I know Sontag wrote this sentence to get a rise and make the readerthink… it worked.
“photography implies instant access to the real. Butthe results of this practice of instant access are another way of creatingdistance.” – Sontag p164
When I first began reading the essay I doubtedthat it would have much relevance as itwas written in 1973, but I find this excerpt to be directly applicable to ourcyber-society. We have access to so muchinformation, including photographs, via the internet. It seems that this easy way to “experience”things has become preferred to actually going outside. It is sad that people prefer watching,viewing, or reading about something than actually going out and doing it.
Max- so excited for the hike up Mt. Pinos
