Image Creators

Sontag separates image creators into two groups. The first group, the image makers, is unquestionably subjective. They do not reproduce reality so much as they represent it. Goya's Disasters of War, for example, does not offer objective proof of the war crimes the artist witnessed. Rather, Goya represents, through images, an experience similar to what he has seen. The made image is filtered entirely through the eyes of its creator.

The second type of image creator is the image taker, one who creates images through the use of film. The word "take" here refers to an image taken directly from life, suggesting that film serves as an objective reproduction of reality. The veracity of a photograph is widely regarded as above reproach, so much so that photographs are admissible as evidence in a court of law.

Despite the difference in objectivity between makers and takers, Sontag demonstrates...