The book “Regarding the Pain of Others” is a provocative and brilliantly written piece of work discussing the topic of war photography and its impact on society. Susan Sontag’s brevity and articulate wording brings the reader right to the heart of the matter as she points out the many aspects, both good and bad, that this type of shocking photography has on people minds. Susan forces the reader to consider the fact that constant exposure to other peoples suffering is dulling our ability to view these images as strong or impressive. Instead these photos are becoming standard to our consumerist culture. People all across the globe are slowly becoming unfazed by these photos that use to shock and horrify entire nations. With the help of many photographic examples, Susan shows how, due to this constant “media-driven” exposure to vulgar and appalling photos, our world is slowly creeping closer to a nation devoid of sympathy.
To provide the reader with strong evidence on this matter, Sontag refers to one of the most debated Photographic journalist of our time, Sebastiao Salgado. Almost all of his controversial / commercialized works have been a subject of criticism and debate since the publication of his first book, “Other Americas”. Before I go into much detail upon why his photos have created so much contention amongst photo critics, it appears to be necessary to understand a little more about the history of the photographer at hand.
Salgado spent his somewhat nomadic childhood growing up in different areas of Brazil. By the time he got to college he had thought he was destined to be an economist and therefore, that is what he got his degree in. After a couple years working for The International Coffee Organization, where he would constantly be traveling back and forth from Africa, he began to take his passion for photography much more seriously. Eventually, he abandoned his career as an economist entirely and instead began to pursue photography. Starting out, he used his skills to work on news assignments where he would travel the world capturing the world from his point of view. Eventually he began to make a name for himself as a pronounced war photographer. It was here in his life when his artwork began to take a turn towards being a subject of controversy.
As Salgado’s popularity continued to grow, his style of photography began to morph into a specific style unique amongst all other war photographers. His photographs would attempt to capture misery through a lens and all at once, super-size it, contrast it between black and white, and make it as spectacular and “cinematic” as possible. These photos, which had been transformed by Salgado into pieces of “art”, were then amassed into three hundred plus photo collections that would bombard the eye with intense graphic images page after page. In the end, these collections were bound up, published, and sold to the general public for his own profit. It was at this point in his career when suspicions began to arise about the true intentions of his photographs. Was Salgado simply trying to make a profit off the misery of others, or was he truly trying to expose their misfortunes to the world in an attempt to help those in need?
Before one can judge the true intentions of Salgado, it is important to actually see a few of his works first hand. Through all my research, I chose to pick three photos from one of his most famous and controversial books called “Workers”. The main objective of this book was to show the public the hard working men and women from around the globe that struggle day to day with their cruel and demanding jobs. Salgado did this in a way that allowed each and every one of his subjects to be portrayed in an almost “heroic” light. For example, the first photo I chose to examine is called “Firefighters at Work”.
In this photo we see a man taking a break from his grueling job of putting out oil fires in Kuwait. Day in and day out he stands under this shower of black oil just trying to support a family. As the man stares blankly out into the open space you can see that he has just about reached the end of his strength. How much longer can he stand in this inferno of heat, gas, mud, and soot? This is a perfect example of what Susan Sonatag explaines as “Uglifying” something which means “showing something at its worst” (Sontag 260). People love to see beauty in images, but they also like to see horror and emotional despair. Salgado manages to captures every last bit of emotion that there is in this picture and maximizes by putting it in black and white. The viewer does not see a disgusting man in oil, but an iconic labor hero covered from head to toe in a bronze polish. The man in the picture might be at the the end of his wits, but Salgado still manages to keep the man’s dignity intact. This man has been stripped of everything, he is in ruins, but as Sonatg once said “There is beauty in ruins” (Sontag 257).
This photo manages to grasp a moment in life that every human being goes through at given times in their life. The moment when you are on the very edge of giving up and calling it quits, yet somehow you manage to gather up enough momentum to simply push through. When a boxer is nearing the end of his vigor, and all of the sudden he finds the last bit of power in his body and swings a punch for a K.O. I personally have come across this moment numerous times throughout my life. Whether it be pushing to win a soccer game in the last minute of a heated game or when I’m at the end of my wits on a two hour exam that gets me into college. There are moments in your life when you feel that all is lost, yet somehow you manage to muster up the strength to keep fighting. This moment is a part of human nature and that is exactly what Salgado captures in this photo.
The next picture I chose from Salgado’s collection is a photo titled “Boys Fleeing From Southern Sudan to avoid having to fight in the Civil War”. The title basically tells the story of what is happening but the photo combined with a title like this truly provokes a strong feeling from the viewer. What is seen in this photo is a group of boys, no older than twelve, huddled together in the darkness as they fear who is at the door of there home. Is it men from the civil war coming to snatch them up and prepare them to fight in war? I can only imagine how much fear a child would have if they were told, at the age of twelve, they were being recruited to fight in a civil war. In the door way you see the figures of three people, and you the viewer are left to wonder if these children will be safe or are they about to be sent into a war that they want nothing to be a part of.
The feelings that this image provokes are strong emotions of sorrow and fear for the future of the boys. It is here where questions are brought up about the ethics of a photo like this being clumbed together with hundreds of pictures that stir up the same emotions. Page after page, the same emotions are aroused one after the other. It is here where Susan Sontag brings up a strong point: “Does Shock have term limits” (Sonatag 260)? What this means is that the shock and horror that is provoked by witnessing these photos does not last forever. The more we are exposed to these photos of suffering and despair the more we grow accustom to it. Our sympathy for the victims in these photos is being dulled more and more by as our nation is exposed to hundred upon hundreds of sorrowful images. Because of this, we the viewer are left searching for photos that will bring up the same emotions and this takes more violence, more suffering, and more despair all together. This is why I saved the most shocking photo (in my opinion) for last.
This photo is considered by many, to be one of Salgado’s greatest pieces of photography. The reason for this is because it brings out the strongest emotions that we have and therefore it’s “Shock factor” lasts a very long time. The title of this photo is titled “Salgado Dispute between Serra Pelada gold mine workers and military police”. Yet again the title does a great job telling the reader exactly what is happening in the photo. Like Sonatag said “Narratives can make us understand” yet “Photographs do something else: they haunt us” and this is exactly what occurs with a photograph like this (Sontag 263).
In this photo you are witnessing the two main characters (a gold mine worker and his superior) as they are arguing over a dispute. Surrounding them are hundreds of other workers who all appear to be powerless to the officer with the gun. By holding the gun the officer has power over these workers and they are helpless. Although there is no explanation for what is going on in this photo, there are numerous ways to interpret this image. With no narrative behind the picture, the viewer is open to make their own imaginative acquisitions. Who is in the right and who is in the wrong? Did the miner start the fight or was it the man with the gun? With no explanation your imagination is allowed to run wild and come up with the most fantastic story behind the photo, thus exaggerating the story and making the shock more powerful. I believe that Salgado purposefully did not include an explanation in order to have the viewer come up with their own story and, in turn giving the photo the most “shock” possible.
We are living in a “culture of viewers”, and violence and horror has always been in constant demand by our society. Why else would news programs get higher rating when they show more graphic content? Although it might seem barbaric to think about, the pain of others amuses us, as long as it is kept far away from us. Each year horror movies and action movies get more and more violent and people love it. More blood! More Gore! More Pain! The demand for violence is constant and it always will be. The more that people become grow accustom to violence, the more violence they want to see. When you compare the first Die Hard movie to the Die Hard movie of today, the first one seems to be as tame as Bambi!
It seems to me that people regard the pain of others with little to no sympathy at all. It’s not me, so why should I care? “Regarding the Pain of Others” discusses the many points and topics that surround this mystery of why people love violence, but in the end, this abstract mystery can never be answered. Using her words and wisdom, Susan taught me the many aspects of why people strive to witness destruction and horror. From her work, I was even able to extend her reasoning’s and develop my own theory’s of why our nation is slowly becoming devoid of sympathy. I guess the world will never know the true reasons behind our love for humanity at its lowest form.
Picture Citations:
http://www.all-art.org/history658_photography13-31.html
http://www.agallery.com/aspx/inventory.aspx?ItemID=SS25438&photographer=Sebastiao+Salgado&search=&sort=
http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/the-mines-of-serra-pelada/

Posted by Shaz at 2:11 PM