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An examination of images of war and how those that view these images react to them. Concise, Sontag writes of the history of war photography and earlier depictions of war through paintings, and the purpose of these images, for the victims of war, the perpetrators, as well as those that view them.

“The understanding of war among people who have not experienced war is now chiefly a product of the impact of these images��

A fact that many can confirm. Although I did experience war myself at some point in my life, it was early enough that I have no surviving memories from the period and so I too know of war mainly from the images that I’ve seen on the television about war. Sontag writes about how these pictures come to the viewers, the intent behind those that capture these images being less important than the response from the viewers. Also examining what repeated exposure of tragic events does to those that repeatedly view them, the tragic events are commemorated and those that are not.

“We don’t get it. We truly can’t imagine what it was like. We can’t imagine how dreadful, how terrifying war is; and how normal it becomes. Can’t understand, can’t imagine. That’s what every soldier, and every journalist and aid worker and independent observer who has put in time under fire, and had the luck to elude the death that struck down others nearby, stubbornly feels. And they are right.��

This was a fantastic read, the kind that perfectly articulates snatches of thoughts that you couldn’t have shaped into the ideas presented to you while informing you and jolting you to think beyond what you would typically of war and its representation