Reading Response 7

Nathan Barbo
Eng 100 A
Feb. 23 2010
Reading Response 7
Susan Sontag writer of the book “In Plato’s Cave” argues that, “Recently, photography has become almost as widely practiced as sex and dancing –which means that, like every mass art form, photography is not practiced by most people as an art. It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power. Basically Sontag is saying that photography has become very common place, as common place as sex and dancing. She states that photography is rite or a way for power. I could not disagree with Sontag more. Not only do I disagree I also find what she says to be offensive. To take the act of sex and compare it to photography is tragic. I think it speaks to how casually people have come to look at sex. Sex is not widely practiced in the same way as dancing. I think this entire statement is an insult to the sanctity of sex. I recognize we live in times where people miss use sex, but I have never heard it so badly represented. Sex is an act between a husband and wife to bind a couple and procreate. I recognize her article is not about sex but about photography, however I simply cannot understand how she could see photography as a deep bonding experience that binds two people physically, spiritually and emotionally. My disagreement with her continues into her next sentence that photography is a rite of passage or a tool of power. I simply do not see photography as highly as Sontag. I see it as profession, a hobby or a collecting of memories. What concerns me even more is that she seems to state that sex is as mass art form and then goes on to say it is a tool of power. In her attempt to elevate the importance of photography, which I agree has some importance in documenting history and capturing beauty, she has destroyed the importance of sex and miss defined sex.
The countering strategy I used is arguing the other side. I argued against her comparison of sex with photography. I argued that by making this comparison she has not put either thing in its proper place, sex to be sanctified and photography a profession/hobby.