Most believe a photograph is worth a thousand words, as almost everyone recognizes the impressive ability photographs have to describe, explain, and express ideas and messages. Yet, Susan Sontag claims photography is detrimental to the world’s ability to think and dictate its emotions. However, Sontag’s claim that photography limits our understanding of the world is untrue, as photography is the only form of communication that can fully express every possible sentiment around the world, regardless of language. Photography has the power to explain and deliver a complex and intricate issue in an instant. In the passage, the author implies a photograph cannot teach or educate. However, this can easily be refuted by countless real world examples where photography did educate …show more content…
Before television and cameras, in the United Kingdom, manufacturing industries and factories had no limitations on the amount of pollution they could release into the country’s air and waterways. Because the majority of British people were not aware of the pollution the industries were creating, they did nothing to protest their detrimental efforts. In fact, in 1959, the Guardian reported the River Thames, a river running through the center of London, to be biologically dead. However, as soon as photography had advanced to the point where the obvious environmental degradation was visible, with color photos and high resolution pictures, the British were up in arms about the manner in which these corporations had abused their home. Because of the restoration efforts that were implemented after the people were informed of the pollution in the waterways from photographs, today, the River Thames is home to thousands of aquatic species and organisms (BBC). As the people of Britain of the state of their environment, beyond their physical surroundings, they were able to