Photographs Of My Mother By Susan Sontag Summary

In the essay “Why We Take Pictures,” Susan Sontag states that pictures can be used as a “tool of power” and a “defense against anxiety” (Sontag 353). She states that the reason photographs can be a tool of power is that they “give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal” (Sontag 354). For example, family uses photographs as a way to connect with its extended relatives, even though the idea of a large family is slowly vanished in this current culture. Another way for pictures to give people a sense of power is the ability to “take possession of space” (Sontag 354). Sontag mentions that family members take photographs because they want to capture the precious and important occasions such as high school graduations or weddings.

In the essay “Photographs of My Mother,” Kingston describes her experience and observations as she views her mother’s old pictures. When Kingston looks at her mother’s graduation photos, she feels like her mother is staring ahead “as if she can see” Kingston and her “grandchildren and grandchildren’s grandchildren” (Kingston 390). The pictures capture her mother’s proudest moment when she was graduating. Kingston’s mother manipulates the pictures so she can convey her message to her descendants that they can be successful like she did. In this case, the picture gives her the power to shape the reality into her own. Just like Kingston, I have seen many times how reality is changed through pictures. For example, when young people are going through a breakup, most are in emotional distress so they usually post pictures to show that they are doing fine and able to move one. Those pictures are usually taken with friends, or alone while going out to prove that after an ended relationship, people can still be confident and have a good time. Moreover, many young people delete the pictures that they took with their past partners on social media as a way to erase the old relationships. Even when the break up still affects their emotions, they create their own reality through pictures, and that gives them a sense of control over their