Photography Within the Humanities

When looking at this image after reading Sontag, I have come to realize the connection between Sontag's writing on looking at photography and this particular image.  In this essay, she examines the study of looking at photography and how it is considered a creation of images.  With this photograph of the mother and her children, it is a well-constructed image based on their position in the photograph.  I feel like that the photographer had placed them in that position for a reason.  The reason is probably to place them parallel to the background.  There is a sense of perspective in this photograph- a foreground and background.  

One point that struck me the most in the reading was when Sontag suggests that photographing something is considered valuable, interesting, and beautiful.  To me, I consider photographing something that is valuable and interesting as a way to remember something or someone.  With the photograph, it is considered interesting and beautiful because it is a family portrait positioned in front of a beautiful country background and considered a memorable keepsake.  

Other points that Sontag mentions is that the camera transforms the world and miniaturize it.  I find that interesting because many people believe that the world is infinite, meaning it never ends.  The camera can only captures certain parts of the world.  The photographer picks a certain view and photographs just that part.  When a photographer looks through the view finder, he or she is only looking through parts of the world.  The photographer knows what is beyond the frame, but the audience looking at the photograph does not know.  As a viewer, I always wonder what is beyond the frame, especially when looking at this family portrait.  I can picture a line starting from the bottom of the frame and going all the way to the back of the photograph in three dimensional photograph.