Note: I wrote this essay for ART 343 Feminist Art History at Allegheny College in spring 2024. Lightly formatted for the web, otherwise as submitted.
CW: violence, death, dehumanization, exploitation, nudity, war.
The camera can be a weapon for exploitation or a tool of enlightenment. In Susan Sontag’s “In Plato’s Cave,” from the book On Photography she claims that “There is an aggression implicit in every use of the camera” (Sontag 1977, 7). However, the word “aggression” may no longer be the best word to describe the act of taking a photo. In this essay, I will go into detail about Sontag’s perspective particularly pertaining to the Vietnam War and look at how to reframe the phrasing to reimagine the word “aggression” in the modern context and how we can think more productively about photography as a medium.
Sontag and the Vietnam War
Sontag wrote her essay at the height of shocking imagery in photographic and video journalism, the Vietnam War. The standard ideology of journalism at the time was to stop the war, you have to show the general population the horrors of the war. Every photographer has a sentiment behind every photo whether it is implicit or explicit (Sontag 1977, 24). The Vietnam War photographers were willing to do whatever was necessary to portray the war to the general public, including showing the deaths of humans on national television without the consent of the photographed, their loved ones, or the audience. My own father has childhood trauma from watching TV during dinnertime and the news outlets flashing a photograph of a Vietnamese man getting shot in the head, a photo now known as the “Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém”, photographed by Eddie Adams. The photographer is actively choosing to not intervene in the situation. This acts as a “privileged moment” where the photographer had the privilege to act as a bystander to a murder (Sontag 1977, 11, 18). Sontag argues that the mass production of gorey imagery as a means to convince an audience created a cycle where imagery has to get more graphic to get the intended reaction (Sontag 1977, 19). Over time, people are able to dissociate from the images they see (Sontag 1977, 20). The Vietnam War can be seen as the culmination of journalism using graphic imagery and the photographers' sentiment to convince a large audience. The “aggression” that can occur from the camera comes from the photographer’s literal search for aggression in a society and by capturing it they are actively partaking in it. Spreading that aggression through a photograph gives it a wider audience and even more power over people.
The Napalm Girl
Although the intentions typically were to stop the war, the Vietnamese could not control how they were photographed or viewed, and even more photographers were the ones benefiting from capturing the suffering of others. The “Napalm Girl” photo is a famous example of photographic aggression. Pictured is a young Vietnamese girl, now identified as Phan Thị Kim Phúc (CBC Docs 2020). Kim is naked and screaming in pain because she just got covered in a very painful substance known as napalm, a common chemical weapon during the Vietnam War. The photographer of the photo, Nick Ut, gained a lot of notoriety and was given the 1973 Pulitzer Award for his photo. The award demonstrates how he benefited from the pain he captured of Kim when she was just a little girl. Additionally, the photo essentially erased Kim’s name and objectified her by turning her into an anti-war symbol. In fact, exploiting Kim as a way to show the horrors of war was expressed early on (Miller 2004, 264). Kim has even gone and said “I didn’t like that picture at all. I felt like why he took my picture when it was agony, naked” and “I wish that picture wasn’t taken” (CBC Docs 2020). Sontag points to the fact that “to photograph people is to violate them” because it turns them into objects and displays them in a way they can never view themselves (Sontag 1977, 4).
The scars and trauma from the napalm never go away but the photographer had the privilege to live on after this event and benefit from it. Kim did not consent to have her nude body broadcast all over the world nor did she ask to have a constant reminder of one of the most traumatic events in her lifetime captured in an irreversible image. Sontag highlights in her essay that suffering is one thing, but to let that moment of suffering live on forever through a photo does not always lead to compassionate viewership and outcome (Sontag 1977, 20). However, the story of the “Napalm Girl” photo did not end completely in tragedy because Phan Thị Kim Phúc is now a mother, author, and an activist who preaches forgiveness (CBC Docs 2020).
From Aggression to Conversation
In the context of the present day, we can see how people are rethinking the impact of their photography. I believe that the word “aggression” can still apply, but not in all cases. Photography is now being acknowledged as an art form and not just a medium for communication. With this in mind, it is important to recognize people thinking about themselves in the context of their photos more and even acknowledging the privilege that comes with being a photographer. As humans, photographers will always have their own viewpoints and sentiments that are reflected in their photography. However, now there is a lot more awareness of these sentiments from the audience and the artist point of view. Artists can use their viewpoints, backgrounds, and perspectives as a jumping-off point for conversion surrounding their art as well as others. “Aggression” has a very negative connotation to it and makes it sound like nothing positive can come from the photographer inputting their perspective. Instead of “aggression”, I propose we have moved on as a society into a time of photographic conversation. The photographer can be just as important as the image itself in the context of art. The background of a photographer can enlighten the viewer on perspectives such as race, sexuality, gender, spirituality, and many more, and this adds layers of context to the art itself. It is more forward-thinking to look at the photographer as part of the conversation instead of as just the aggressor of the photo.
Carrie Mae Weems
An example of a photographer who uses their identity as a female person of color to enlighten their photos is Carrie Mae Weems. Carrie Mae Weems is well known for her Kitchen Table Series (Willis 2004, 3). She uses her identity to add context to her photos in the Kitchen Table Series. In particular, she shows through her art how society views women with a focus on the historical significance of the kitchen table in the relationship dynamic between women and the domestic household. (Willis 2004, 3). As the photographer, Weems uses her identity to add to the conversation of the photos by showing the audience through the lens of a woman. Alternatively, she also shows the audience the inequities of people of color and women through her art (Willis 2004, 1). Weems works to establish a presence for black women in culture and her identity operates as part of the conversation for her work. She is a positive part of the very cause her photography works to promote. She is not a photographer with the privilege of witnessing a violent act to broadcast to the world, instead, she is an activist who uses her vision and identity to create conversations about feminism and black representation.
Two Sides to Every Coin
There are exceptions to either side. In the past, it would be hard to say Ansel Adams was committing an act of aggression by taking pictures of national parks. Likewise, it would be hard to say that paparazzi are not committing acts of aggression by taking photos of non-consenting celebrities. There are two sides to every coin and we can not label every photo in existence under the same umbrella. However, I think there has been a lot of progress in the world of photography since the writing of Sontag’s book in 1977. It is important to understand the exploitations of the past to create a more equitable future and learning about photography as a form of expression is a step towards that. By looking at the “aggressions” of the past we can move the conversations forward toward the future.
References
- Adams, Eddie. "Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém." 1968. Photograph. Associated Press. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/world/asia/vietnam-execution-photo.html.
- CBC Docs. 2020. “‘Napalm Girl’ Kim Phuc, from Iconic Vietnam Photo, on Pain and Forgiveness | Brief but Spectacular.” YouTube Video. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWH2Vi0PcoI.
- Miller, Nancy K. 2004. “The Girl in the Photograph: The Vietnam War and the Making of National Memory.” JAC 24 (2): 261-90. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20866626.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A086d3f8313729c8d019c64351476d6bd&ab_segments=&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1.
- Sontag, Susan. "In Plato’s Cave." In On Photography, 15-24. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.
- Ut, Nick. "Napalm Girl." 1972. Photograph. Associated Press. Available at: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/napalm-girl.
- Weems, Carrie Mae. Kitchen Table Series. 1990. Photographs. Private collection. Available at: https://carriemaeweems.net/galleries/kitchen-table.html.
- Willis, Deborah. 2012. “Translating Black Power and Beauty-: Carrie Mae Weems.” Callaloo 35 (4): 993-96. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/496844/pdf.