Understanding Sontag: On Being Photographed
This handout compares portraits of Susan Sontag with her reflections on being photographed, and explores whether portraits can capture a sense of self.
PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON 4: HANDOUT 2
½—1 class periods (30-60 min)
- Art and Culture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
Themes > Culture
World > The Modern World
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Biography
Genre > Essay
Place > Modern World
- Analysis
- Compare and contrast
- Critical thinking
- Cultural analysis
- Discussion
- Evaluating arguments
- Interpretation
- Literary analysis
- Media analysis
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Summarizing
- Synthesis
- Textual analysis
- Using archival documents
- Visual analysis
- Visual art analysis
- ELA Reading: 1, 7, 10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-2
- HSS Reading: 1-3, 7-10
OR complete the lesson now with one of our Student Activity Options
- Screen Regarding Susan Sontag in advance, asking students to consider how the filmmakers used portraits of Sontag to tell her story, when and how these images appear, and what they reveal about Sontag’s life.
- Assign the full text of Sontag’s “Certain Mapplethorpes” in Where the Stress Falls in advance, in place of the handout excerpt. For a more in-depth analysis, allow additional time for students to view portraits by Robert Mapplethorpe, reflect on the relationship between Sontag and Mapplethorpe as cultural figures in the 1970s, and consider their unique approaches to portraiture. Discuss as a class, or ask students to write a short reflection in response.
- Reflection and concluding questions may also be assigned as short essays or response papers.