Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a sense of the past.
Susan SontagRead
Finally, the most grandiose result of the photographic enterprise is to give us the sense that we can hold the whole world in our heads – as an anthology of images. To collect photographs is to collect the world
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes how photography allows us to encapsulate and understand the world around us through images.
Susan Sontag highlights the powerful impact of photography, suggesting that through the act of collecting photographs, we are not merely amassing images, but are also gathering the essence of the world itself. This process gives us a broader perspective, creating an anthology in our minds that connects us to various experiences and insights from different places and times.
Themes
PhotographyImagesWorldCollectionUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about the influence of art on society, one could quote Sontag to illustrate the power of visual storytelling.
More from Susan Sontag
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Volume depends precisely on the writer's having been able to sit in a room every day, year after year, alone.
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It hurts to love. It's like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing that at any moment the other person may just walk off with your skin.
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I believe in living with the camera, and not using the camera.
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