Plato’s Cave by Susan Sontag
Plato's Cave is about viewing the world but as an outcast, all you know is what is in the cave and shadowed representations. Sontag says that photography “makes us feel that the world is more available than it really is.” Photographs capture moments but you see what people want you to see and it is all a representation. Through her writing her focus point is that photographs distant viewers from reality. What we see can make us feel something but it keeps us distant to what is actually happening, we won’t know the actually feelings that are being conveyed by the subjects or know the actual situation.
We rely on photographs to tell us that something happened cause if its not photographed you didn’t do it or it didn’t happen. People are addicted to images and rely on them to confirm reality and make experiences meaningful. I am guilty of this. “Snap eats first” taking picture of meals and posting it before even taking a bite. It’s interesting going out and seeing people on dates or hanging out and they are all on their phones. I take pictures of everything because I want to remember the moments but it doesn’t capture what I was feeling. I think she makes some really great points. Photographs is how people communicate now.
