Philosophy Paper 2

In today’s society, journalists allow the public to become spectators to the hardship felt by other countries. Through the use of media and global communications, coverage on wars and disaster has become a part of the average families home. Susan Sontag uses the quote, “if it bleeds, it leads”, to describe who the tabloids feature conflict and violence to incite a response from the public. These responses usually include compassion, indignation, or approval, as each misery is place in front of the ever-watchful eyes of the public. The public is increasingly suspicious of things that seem too good to be true. Thus, photographs that are less perfect and perhaps could have been taken by a mere passerby are more effective.

One point that Sontag makes in the second section of her book Regarding the Pain of Others is that “a photograph has only one language.” The media also has many different ways of transmitting a message. There are perceived differences between how different kinds of mediums affect people. Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “The medium is the message” (Book, 1967), meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. A written account of a situation that is provided through written journalism has a complexity of thought and has the ability to be pitched to a larger or smaller readership. There can be miscommunication between the author’s intentions and the reader’s perceptions. Photographs can convey something of the terrors and the devastation that countries are faced with on a daily basis. Photographs are memory freeze-frames that provide a quick way of apprehending something and allows for a compact form for memorizing it. A person’s memory stocks hundreds of photographs and they are subject to instant recall based on the stimuli. This is why a simple edit to a photograph has ethical implications. Individuals who manipulate photos should be questioned for their motives in the decision-making process prior to the manipulation. If a person is really trying to simply capture an event, then why do they feel the need to change it for the viewing of others? Even the smallest adjustments to the truth is a form of deception.

This allowed photographs to develop into an authority over other mediums. Photographs have objectivity and point of view, which has allowed to have a special kind of authenticity. Picture taking acquired an immediacy and authority greater than any verbal account in conveying the horror of mass produced death. Photographs have the kind of authority over the imagination of people today, that the printed word has yesterday, and the spoken word before that. In terms of objectivity, photos are impartial since a machine is doing the actual recording. It is an actual moment of reality and the photograph is an interpretation of that reality. The general public views a photograph as a scientific document, whose reality cannot be questioned but in era of digital manipulation, the credibility often times needs to be addressed. In photojournalism, it is important that their media has a factual base. The point of view of a photograph as a scientific document, whose reality cannot be questioned but in an era of digital manipulation, the credibility often times needs to be addressed. In photojournalism, it is important that their media has a factual base. The point of view of a photograph is not an argument. It is a statement of fact addressed to the eye. This is a skillful talent that can show the events of atrocity. Consumes of photographs want the weight of witnessing without the taint of artistry because it is less manipulative. Less polished photos are welcomed for possessing a special kind of authenticity. Consumers enjoy that luck plays a role in the taking of pictures and with the spontaneous; there is a lessened chance of biases.

Finally, the photographer’s intentions do not determine the meaning of the photograph, which will have its own career, blown by the whims and loyalties of the diverse communities. Taking a photo is a process typically triggered by an intention. Some people want to document the process of a task; others just want to capture the moment to re-visit later on. Eventually, a consumer of the medium reads into the photograph and determines what it should be saying. But this is usually changed based on a person’s perceptions. Memory can also alter the image, depending on the person and memory’s needs.