Curiosity is a thoroughly innate quality. Humans stand around what stands out in the world and try to make sense of the senseless. This asset of curiosity has allowed us to make many progressive advances throughout history. But even today, without regards to an evolutionary context, we are constantly drawn to focus on the unknown and how to uncover and understand it. Such a concept is regarded and carried out through media and mediated content. From newspapers to news channels, photographs and motion pictures are widely used to capture our interest by capturing moments that may seem the slightest bit interesting to the masses. This is certainly the case for war. The depiction of wars in the media has its fair share of controversy surrounding
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Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others is one particular work that discusses war photography and its implications in the public sphere. Sontag critiques the images of war that people consume, calling into question the responsibility to take action when dealing with war. She contemplates with the notion that we may want to end wars with these images, but questions whether or not this is actually possible in any regard. She initially points out that the “photographs of the victims …show more content…
She discusses the implications of preventing war by highlighting the importance of its depictions. Like Sontag, Woolf too understands that war is not preventable. Her perspective, however, rises from the notion that war is heavily influenced by man and man alone. So Woolf explains that through war photography, even women can be on the same emotional ground as men, emphasizing that “emotion demands something more positive than a name written on a sheet of paper” (Woolf 112). War photography is effective in understanding the horrors of the act in a different way. Reading about war is one thing, but getting a glimpse of the scenes themselves can truly shake us as a people to raise awareness. Yes, Woolf is aware that “those photographs are not an argument; they are simply a crude statement of fact addressed to the eye” (Woolf 111). She addresses an assumption there. But she goes on to explain that “when we look at those photographs some fusion takes place within us; however different the education, the traditions behind us, our sensations are the same; and they are violent” (Woolf 111). Woolf seems to feel undermined by the notion that war is a man’s game, but she provides a counterargument that its depictions are useful in uniting the masses. She understands that people come from different backgrounds, but when it comes to viewing these images, we tend to
Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others is one particular work that discusses war photography and its implications in the public sphere. Sontag critiques the images of war that people consume, calling into question the responsibility to take action when dealing with war. She contemplates with the notion that we may want to end wars with these images, but questions whether or not this is actually possible in any regard. She initially points out that the “photographs of the victims …show more content…
She discusses the implications of preventing war by highlighting the importance of its depictions. Like Sontag, Woolf too understands that war is not preventable. Her perspective, however, rises from the notion that war is heavily influenced by man and man alone. So Woolf explains that through war photography, even women can be on the same emotional ground as men, emphasizing that “emotion demands something more positive than a name written on a sheet of paper” (Woolf 112). War photography is effective in understanding the horrors of the act in a different way. Reading about war is one thing, but getting a glimpse of the scenes themselves can truly shake us as a people to raise awareness. Yes, Woolf is aware that “those photographs are not an argument; they are simply a crude statement of fact addressed to the eye” (Woolf 111). She addresses an assumption there. But she goes on to explain that “when we look at those photographs some fusion takes place within us; however different the education, the traditions behind us, our sensations are the same; and they are violent” (Woolf 111). Woolf seems to feel undermined by the notion that war is a man’s game, but she provides a counterargument that its depictions are useful in uniting the masses. She understands that people come from different backgrounds, but when it comes to viewing these images, we tend to