Portraits

 

Question #3

How are emotions raised by a work of art different from typical human emotions?

I think emotions raised by works of art are more like sympathy rather than empathy. We see a photograph and it provokes something within us; however, typical human emotions are felt when we experience things and thus, are more relatable. The emotions we feel when we see sad photographs (like war photos) are often stemmed from sympathy; we feel bad for the victims, mad at the brutality, sympathetic towards those who have lost someone, or hurt by the violence in our world. Yet, many of us have never experienced the exact same moment as depicted in a the photograph; thus, the emotions we feel due to the photo are not our typical self experience driven emotions. Sadness from an experience occurs because something bad has happened to you, but feeling sad after seeing a photo is provoked from a sympathy for the victim or the situation.