The Impact of Sartre on Photography

Although Sartre did not write directly about photography, his existential philosophy deeply informs the way photography can be understood, practiced, and theorized

Introduction

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980), one of the most influential existential philosophers of the twentieth century, is widely known for his works on freedom, subjectivity, and the human condition. While Sartre did not write directly on photography in the way Walter Benjamin or Roland Barthes did, his existential philosophy profoundly shaped intellectual discourse that informed the interpretation and practice of photography. By emphasizing freedom, responsibility, authenticity, and the situatedness of human existence, Sartre’s thought provides a critical framework for understanding photography not only as an artistic and documentary medium but also as a mode of existential expression.

This essay examines the impact of Sartre on photography by situating his philosophical concepts in relation to photographic practice, aesthetics, and theory. It explores existential themes such as subjectivity, authenticity, and nothingness in photography, while also considering Sartre’s influence on photographers and theorists who integrated existential ideas into their work. The discussion includes the connections between Sartre’s existentialism and visual representation, the ethical dimensions of photographic practice, and the broader cultural implications of photography within existentialist thought.

Sartre’s Existential Philosophy: A Brief Overview

Sartre’s existentialism is rooted in the assertion that “existence precedes essence” (Sartre, 1943/1993). This means that humans are not defined by predetermined essences but instead create themselves through choices and actions. His philosophy emphasizes radical freedom, responsibility, and the anxiety that accompanies this condition. Central to Sartre’s thought are:

1. Freedom and Responsibility – Every individual is condemned to be free, meaning that choices cannot be avoided and each choice carries responsibility (Sartre, 1943/1993).

2. Bad Faith – The denial of one’s own freedom by adopting false identities or conforming to external definitions (Sartre, 1943/1993).

3. The Gaze of the Other – The experience of being objectified through the gaze of others, which complicates subjectivity (Sartre, 1943/1993).

4. Authenticity – Living authentically requires acknowledging one’s freedom and responsibility.

Though these ideas are philosophical, they can be applied to the visual realm of photography, where questions of representation, identity, and authenticity become central.

Fleeting Freedom : Grey Heron In Flight, Woodbridge Island

Photography as Existential Expression

Photography, as a medium, engages with the fundamental existential problem of representing existence. Unlike painting, which is mediated through interpretation, photography has been considered a more “objective” or indexical medium. Yet, from an existentialist perspective, photography is never purely objective. Every photograph emerges from human choices—what to frame, when to shoot, and how to interpret. Sartre’s existentialism highlights the subjective conditions underpinning photographic practice.

For instance, a photographer cannot escape responsibility for their images. Choosing to document war, poverty, or joy is an existential act, shaped by freedom and intention. In this sense, photography becomes a manifestation of what Sartre would call “project”—the forward-oriented action through which humans define themselves (Sartre, 1943/1993).

The Gaze and Photography

One of Sartre’s most relevant concepts for photography is the gaze. In Being and Nothingness, Sartre (1943/1993) describes the gaze as the way individuals experience objectification when they realize they are being observed. This concept translates directly into photographic practice: the camera embodies the gaze of the photographer, and the photograph extends this gaze to future viewers.

Photography often positions subjects within the dynamic of power between observer and observed. Portraiture, for example, can both empower and objectify. Sartre’s framework helps us understand the tension between self-representation and alienation in photography. For the subject, the photograph can become a permanent manifestation of “being-for-others”—an image that freezes their existence within another’s gaze (Berger, 1972).

A gaze 'deliberately away' from the camera : WP Cricket / Newlands 

Freedom, Choice, and the Photographic Act

Sartre’s notion of radical freedom is equally pertinent. Every photograph embodies a series of choices: lens, framing, exposure, and perspective. These choices reflect the photographer’s consciousness projecting itself into the world. Photographic freedom, however, also entails responsibility. A war photographer’s decision to capture suffering rather than intervene exemplifies the ethical dilemmas of Sartrean freedom.

Susan Sontag (1977/2001) indirectly engages Sartrean themes when she critiques photography’s role in shaping collective responsibility and ethical spectatorship. She suggests that photography implicates both photographers and viewers in acts of witnessing, aligning with Sartre’s insistence that individuals cannot evade responsibility for their choices.

Photography and Nothingness

Another key Sartrean theme is nothingness (néant). For Sartre, consciousness is a nothingness that negates being, allowing humans to imagine possibilities and transcend given realities (Sartre, 1943/1993). Photography, in this sense, can be seen as an encounter with absence. Every photograph captures a moment that no longer exists - it is a presence of absence. Roland Barthes (1981/2000), influenced by existential thought, explores this in Camera Lucida, noting that photography always gestures toward death, freezing time into stillness.

The photographic image thus embodies Sartre’s ontology of nothingness. By preserving what is no longer present, photography points to the fleeting nature of existence and the inevitability of temporality. In existential terms, the photograph is a reminder of mortality and the fragile contingency of life.

This wildflower (moment) no longer exists : Kirstenbosch

Authenticity and Photographic Practice

Sartre’s call for authenticity resonates with photography’s struggle between truth and manipulation. Authentic photography acknowledges the situatedness of the photographer and the reality of the subject. For Sartre, authenticity requires owning one’s freedom and choices, rather than falling into bad faith. Similarly, in photography, authenticity arises when photographers confront rather than conceal their own positionality.

Documentary photography, when practiced authentically, resists manipulation or distortion of reality. Conversely, staged or overly commercialized photography can be critiqued as “bad faith” if it denies the photographer’s responsibility or masks the existential truth of the subject.

Sartre’s Influence on Photographic Theory

Though Sartre did not explicitly theorize photography, his existentialism informed intellectual contexts in which photographic theory evolved. French thinkers like Roland Barthes and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, both influenced by Sartre, extended existential and phenomenological approaches to visual culture.

• Roland Barthes – In Camera Lucida, Barthes (1981/2000) builds upon existential themes, particularly regarding death, temporality, and subjectivity in photography. His concepts of studium and punctum reflect existential encounters with images.

• Maurice Merleau-Ponty – While not strictly Sartrean, Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception overlaps with Sartre’s thought and influenced photographic aesthetics by stressing embodiment and perception (Merleau-Ponty, 1945/2012).

• John Berger – In Ways of Seeing (1972), Berger explores the gaze and power relations in visual culture, echoing Sartrean themes of objectification.

Thus, Sartre’s existential philosophy indirectly shaped key debates about photography’s ontology and ethics.

Photographers and Existential Influence

Several photographers have embraced existentialist themes in their work, reflecting Sartrean concerns:

• Henri Cartier-Bresson – His notion of the “decisive moment” aligns with Sartre’s emphasis on freedom and the lived instant. Each photograph becomes an existential act of choice, capturing the irreducible contingency of human existence (Cartier-Bresson, 1952).

• Diane Arbus – Her portraits of marginalized individuals highlight the tension between freedom and otherness, resonating with Sartre’s notion of being-for-others.

• Don McCullin – As a war photographer, McCullin’s work confronts the ethical responsibility of witnessing, echoing Sartre’s emphasis on responsibility in the face of human suffering.

These examples demonstrate how Sartrean themes infiltrated photographic practice, even when photographers did not explicitly engage with existentialism.

Photography, Ethics, and Political Engagement

Sartre was not only a philosopher but also a politically engaged intellectual. His existentialism called for commitment to social justice, emphasizing that individuals define themselves through their actions within historical contexts (Sartre, 1948/1992). This resonates with photography’s capacity for activism and political engagement.

Photojournalism, for example, embodies Sartre’s notion of committed action. Photographers such as Sebastião Salgado and Dorothea Lange used images to expose injustice and mobilize change, aligning with Sartre’s conviction that freedom entails responsibility toward others. Sartre’s insistence on engagement helped legitimize the idea that photography should not merely be aesthetic but also socially transformative.

Photography, Death, and Existential Anxiety

Existential anxiety, for Sartre, emerges from the confrontation with freedom and mortality. Photography intensifies this anxiety by capturing the inevitable passage of time. Every photograph is a trace of what is no longer, a frozen reminder of mortality. Barthes (1981/2000) articulates this in existential terms, describing the photograph as both a proof of life and a harbinger of death.

This duality - presence and absence - gives photography an existential weight, making it a medium uniquely suited to reflecting on human finitude. The photograph is not only an image but also an ontological confrontation with time and death.

Conclusion

Although Sartre did not write directly about photography, his existential philosophy deeply informs the way photography can be understood, practiced, and theorized. Concepts such as freedom, responsibility, authenticity, the gaze, and nothingness resonate with the photographic act and its cultural significance. Sartre’s existentialism shaped the intellectual context for figures like Barthes, Merleau-Ponty, and Berger, who directly engaged with photography, and influenced generations of photographers whose work embodies existential concerns.

In this light, Sartre’s impact on photography is profound: he provided the philosophical framework through which photography can be understood not just as a technical or aesthetic medium but as an existential act—an assertion of freedom, a confrontation with mortality, and a mode of authentic engagement with the world.

References

Barthes, R. (2000). Camera lucida: Reflections on photography (R. Howard, Trans.). Vintage International. (Original work published 1981)

Berger, J. (1972). Ways of seeing. Penguin.

Cartier-Bresson, H. (1952). The decisive moment. Simon and Schuster.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of perception (D. A. Landes, Trans.). Routledge. (Original work published 1945)

Sartre, J.-P. (1992). Existentialism is a humanism (C. Macomber, Trans.). Yale University Press. (Original work published 1948)

Sartre, J.-P. (1993). Being and nothingness (H. E. Barnes, Trans.). Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1943)

Sontag, S. (2001). On photography. Picador. (Original work published 1977)

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