Susan Sontag's "America, Seen Through Photographs, Darkly" seems to depict a small snippet of photograghy's history, especially in regards to "Whitmanesque" (105) photograghs. Yet, the article seems to really be about Diane Arbus and how her pictures, depicted something deep within herself but also displayed many similar feelings of many Americans at that times. It comes off as though Arbus' rich and privileged life really led to some sort of a revolt within herself, that led to her "Turn against what was public, conventional, safe and reassuring-and boring- in favor of what was private, hidden, ugly, dangerous, and fascinating" (113). She, along with many other Americans, felt as though her life thus far had been protected by her well-off, white family and that it was her time to really look at the world as it is. This ties back to her style of "Whitmanesque" pictures which depict everyone equal because of the fact that everyone is constantly changing. She now looked upon the ugly and grotesque as exciting and rare because of her sheltered childhood.
Also, Sontag makes it quite obvious that Arbus purposely chooses her strange characters and her settings in such a way that it draws in the viewer. The fact that she uses such alien people for her photographs but places them in such a light where there miserable lives are hard to be seen, causes the viewer to be slightly puzzled and therefore more curious. The picture above illustrates this perfectly in that such an unusual person seems to be surprisingly joyful, yet many Americans would think this little-person would be displaying a sorrowful gaze. It is clear at the end of the article that Sontag seems to be totally pro-Arbus' unique photography style and can appear that she wishes more artists were "against-the-norm" like Diane Arbus.
