It may seem a little odd for a book called ‘On Photography’ to contain no photographs within its pages. Despite this, Susan Sontag’s collection of essays remains - 26 years after it was first published - one of the most important books written about the role of the photographic image in our lives. Her latest book, ‘Regarding the Pain of Others’, continues this theme but with specific reference to “the contemporary depiction of war and disaster”.

Sontag’s recent 3 hour(!) interview for the American channel C-Span - in which she discusses photography as well as war with Iraq amongst other things - can be viewed here (requires the RealOne Player).