How Has 'Notes On Camp' Influenced Modern Aesthetics?

Susan Sontag's 'Notes on Camp' completely reshaped how we see exaggerated, ironic style in art and fashion. The essay made camp mainstream by framing it as a deliberate aesthetic choice rather than just bad taste. Modern drag shows, haute couture collections like those from Gucci under Alessandro Michele, and even meme culture owe their exaggerated theatrics to Sontag’s ideas. Camp’s love for artifice over nature shows up everywhere now—think Lady Gaga’s meat dress or Ryan Murphy’s over-the-top TV shows like 'American Horror Story'. It’s no longer niche; it’s a lens we use to decode everything from viral TikTok trends to Met Gala themes. The essay gave permission to embrace the absurd, and you can see that freedom in today’s most daring creative works.

Sontag’s 1964 essay didn’t just describe camp—it weaponized it as a cultural tool. Before 'Notes on Camp', flamboyance was often dismissed as frivolous. Now, it’s a deliberate rebellion against minimalism and sincerity. Look at modern filmmakers like Baz Luhrmann, whose 'Elvis' bathes in rhinestone excess, or series like 'Pose', where the ballroom scenes turn survival into spectacle. Even architecture leans into camp now, with buildings like the V&A Museum’s pink-and-gold 'Camp: Notes on Fashion' exhibit hallway.

What’s fascinating is how democratized camp became. Instagram aesthetics thrive on Sontag’s principles: think maximalist influencers clashing patterns or brands like Moschino selling fast-food-shaped handbags. The essay taught us to read irony as intelligence. Modern queer spaces, especially, use camp as both armor and celebration—drag queens parodying gender norms owe their intellectual footing to Sontag’s framing. Without her, movements like 'New Camp' (seen in Schiaparelli’s surreal designs) might still be stuck in the cultural margins.

As someone who studies visual trends, I see Sontag’s fingerprints on how brands manipulate nostalgia. 'Notes on Camp' taught us to aestheticize the 'failed seriousness' of things—like rebranding 1980s corporate art as cool. Now, Y2K fashion’s return isn’t just retro; it’s a wink at its own tackiness. Shows like 'Emily in Paris' dress characters in clashing prints not despite their gaudiness but because of it.

Camp’s influence also lurks in digital spaces. TikTok filters that mimic VHS glitches or deliberately 'cheap' CGI are pure Sontag—they prioritize stylistic excess over technical polish. Even political memes use camp’s exaggerated sentimentality to mock power structures. The essay’s genius was recognizing that over-the-top aesthetics could carry subversive weight, and that lesson fuels everything from Balenciaga’s dystopian runways to 'Saltburn’s' grotesque luxury.