Truth, lies and the digital image
Truth casts a much longer shadow than reality. This is nowhere more true than with photography, and is so on various levels.
The moment we eye a person/place/thing, we enter into a relationship with the subject that precludes photographing it without imposing upon the process something of our own perspective – a type of Heisenberg’s uncertainty, perhaps. Consciously or not, we choose to include one element in the frame and to exclude another – ‘move a little to the right, please”. And then there is the matter of post-processing of the image (a topic for another post, I think).
I highly doubt there is a single unedited image that could fully embody the truth of our experience the moment we decided to capture it: truth in the raw photograph is an elusive creature. So if our goal is to convey more with our imagery than the static recording of light on a sensor (film or digital), we will find ourselves playing god with our images, just a bit. And by doing so, our photographs will be more truthful.
I’ll leave you with an image that has been manipulated significantly to convey my experience of the Tulip Festival this last Spring in Ottawa. On that day I lay down on the grass and photographed the tourists passing by. The experience from my vantage point was of a vibrant flow of people, many of whom stopped to photograph the flowers. It was busyness at its best. But no one photographic capture of the crowd could convey the fullness of the event – so I combined several to create this one image that was a “truer” representation than any of its component photographs.
Tourists enjoying the Tulip Festival, Ottawa, 2009
Tags: image manipulation, personal perspective, photographic truth, previsualization
November 18th, 2009 at 11:13 am
As the storyteller you weave the tale; the reality of this shot was that you captured only a few people at a time, yet the combined essence of the day as perceived by you was one of busyness. Therefore the truth as perceived by you was that of busyness, even though only a few people at a time passed through the frame of your camera. It is deceptive strategies such as the above, perpetuated by colonialist, consumerist manipulation that has inhibited true globalization, as hegemonic powers disable the discourse of reality as perceived by ‘other’ cultures. In reality, can Heisenberg’s principles of uncertainty truly measure these complicated and imbedded deceptions? I think not.
Sigh, I’ve been at school too long. I’m jus’ funin’ ya Dave…it’s a great shot!
November 18th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
The words of Pontius Pilate come to mind – “And what is truth?”.
And I just thought it was a rendition of the Tulip Festival – silly me…
November 18th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
…”and the truth shall set you free.”