• "I find that ugly thing...beautiful."
• People want a photo of themselves at their best
• Photographs are praised by their candor and honesty
• After a photographer experimented with photo alteration the idea that the camera could lie made getting photographed much more popular
• Photographs make a claim true
• Paintings can falsify history of art; photographs can falsify reality
• "while we give it credit only for depicting the nearest surface, it actually brings out the secret character with a truth that no painter would ever venture upon, even could he detect it."
• Photographs do not simply render reality - realistically. It's reality which is scrutinized, and evaluated, for its fidelity to photographs.
• "You can not claim to have really seen something until you have photographed it."
• Photographs have become the norm for the way things appear to us, changing the very idea of reality and of realism.
I have to say that I only halfheartedly agree with Susan Sontag, author of On Photography, who seems to be more of a purist. Several people could be looking at one photograph and each might see a different 'reality'. Reality seems like such a concrete word, but really it will depend on everyone's own experience and point in life. Reality for someone young might be school or a broken family or even a life changing (and I use this term loosely) 'mistake'. Reality for an individual might be children or working several jobs to pay the bills or health problems. Peoples reality is colored by their experience at that particular time. Yes, a photograph used to be simply that, just a photograph; something to capture the exact moment in time. Today, photographs show the viewer what either he or she wants to see but also what the photographer wants you to see as well as the viewers interpretation.
In this painted portrait of a girl holding two cats, reality is really only implied. What exactly do you see when you look at this image? Is what we see now true of what was seen through the artist's eyes? We think we know the facts by what we see, but we can't tell her expression. The artist can give the girl the expression they want the viewer to see. Even though this portrait does show a moment in time it still seems more like art than reality.
In the photograph of the salesman to the right, we can actually see an expression. Even though the expression might seem different to everyone it gives an incite to his character, mood and personality. His wrinkles show a true honesty instead of being idealistic. Photography causes the viewer to question it, wanting to know more; unlike a painting where the artist shows you what to see.
People who don't like their photos taken don't usually hide from the camera because they hate the camera. They usually fear not looking their best. To the left, this photographic portrait seems staged. She's very photogenic, but does the subject look like that in real life? When a German photographer experimented with altering photos, photographs became much more popular, because then everyone could look their best. We are so used to seeing photographs, very few question it's honest reality. Now, frequently the time, they are altered in some way to enhance the overall quality. Being physically idealistic has been taken to a whole new level.
Reality is just a harsh way of saying 'it is what it is, and always will be.' Art is a lighter way of showing the artist's reality. Photographs are honest expressions of reality for only a split second in time. Photographic Art...I'll let you decide.
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