'The most original and important work yet written on the subject' John Berger, New SocietyPhotographs are everywhere. They possess the power to shock or to idealize, they create a sense of nostalgia and act as a memorial, and they can be used as evidence or to identify us. In these six incisive essays Susan Sontag examines the role that photography plays in society. She asks how the omnipresence of these images affects how we view the world, and how we have come to rely upon them to provide a sense of reality and authority in our lives.