On Photography

On Photography is a collection of essays by American writer and critic Susan Sontag. First published in 1977, this work has had a profound influence on shaping theoretical ideas around photography.

Across six essays Sontag reflects on how the ubiquity of photography, which has become a social ritual, has radically transformed our relationship with the world. While creating the illusion of gaining power over reality through the camera, photography, on the contrary, distances us from it, constructing and manipulating our perception of reality.