Regarding the Pain of Others
Susan Sontag
£11.99
Mr B's review
Famed essayist Susan Sontag offers a searing analysis of our numbed response to images of horror. What does it mean to look at images of pain and suffering? Can there be any justification for the creation, and consumption, of such images? These questions guide Sontag, as she outlines a concise history of war photography and the practice of photojournalism, exploring masculinity, voyeurism, and changing media. Written in the wake of 9/11, Regarding ruminates on what it means to be alive and alert in the twenty-first century – a question that grows increasingly pressing, as social-digital media seems to make voyeurs of us all. – Liv
Description
Regarding the Pain of Others is Susan Sontag’s searing analysis of our numbed response to images of horror.
‘A coruscating sermon on how we picture suffering’ The New York Times
What is the purpose of images of pain and suffering? Can there be any real justification for the creation, and consumption, of such images?
In this seminal volume, Susan Sontag examines the uses and meanings of images, from inspiring dissent to fostering violence to creating apathy. And through this lens she considers the nature of war, the limits of sympathy, and the obligations of conscience.
‘A far-reaching set of ruminations […] on what it means to be alive and alert in the twenty-first century’ Independent
‘Sontag is on top form: devastating’ Los Angeles Times
‘Simple, elegant, fiercely persuasive’ Metro
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