Lens Essay-- topic and intro

In her essay "On Photography," Susan Sontag suggests that photographs are readily taken to be truthful reproductions of reality, although they can be deceptive, and that while photos are powerful in their ability to evoke emotions and deliver moral messages, they can only reinforce, not change, existing public opinions. During the Second Lebanon War, which took place in the summer of 2006, the controversial staged photographs that were run in the media -- especially the ones of children's toys among rubble -- supported both of Sontag's claims. While many American newspaper readers did accept the deceptive photographs as real, they did little to sway public opinion from supporting Israel to supporting Hezbollah.


During the Second Lebanon War, which took place in the summer of 2006, many emotionally provocative photos were run in major newspapers and magazines depicting the suffering of the Lebanese people as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Especially notable among these was a series of photos that showed children's toys laying about the rubble of a bombed-out building, which took advantage of the emotional power of the motif of the suffering of children. However, it was later proven that these photos -- which to newspaper editors must have seemed to good to be true -- had been staged by pro-Hezbollah photojournalists trying to elicit sympathy for their cause from the West. In her essay "On Photographs," American writer Susan Sontag argues that that photographs are readily taken to be truthful reproductions of reality, although they can be deceptive, and that while photos are powerful in their ability to evoke emotions and deliver moral messages, they can only reinforce, not change, existing public opinions. The staged photographs that came out of the Second Lebanon War offer support for her claim. While many American newspaper readers did accept the deceptive photographs as real, they did still little to sway public opinion from supporting Israel to supporting Hezbollah.