Torture and the Ethics of Photography

I really enjoyed the questions that this article raises about the regulation of wartime photography, and how the author disagrees with Sontag on many points. It still blows my mind that one image can have such an impact on society that it can destroy a country’s morale during a war. The author does a good job refuting some of Sontag’s argument, especially when talking about how Sontag favors a narrative over a photograph in the interest of “helping to mobilize us effectively against a war.” The author seems to think that photographs do a great job in presenting an argument against war. I would have to agree. Just one image, if it is shocking enough, has the power in my opinion to make people question their beliefs about war time photography. Sontag argues that the sentiment surrounding a photograph can cloud the viewer’s judgement of the image, and that there is less sentiment surrounding a slogan, for example. I do not agree with that statement; I do not think that understanding and feeling have to be mutually exclusive. Sometimes it is necessary to feel the emotion of a photograph in order to understand it in different ways. There is nothing wrong with having a more personal viewpoint of an event, such as through a photographic image.