Photography Is Art (Part 2)

They say a camera never lies, but that’s not true - by its nature it does. It is a reality-driven medium for sure, but a camera can’t ‘see’ what a human eye can see. It’s 2 dimensional not 3 dimensional, there is compression and distortion.

Does it matter if a photograph lies? How do you know if it is a good picture? - the answer is when it generates interest and people start asking questions - where did you take it, how did you take it, did you in fact take it?  So there is an interest factor. Is it possible that the more you move an image away from the foundational imaging the more interesting the image will be?

There are many ‘flaws’  in cameras, and by default lenses, that create beautiful images. 

Your lens choice for example. If you use a long lens the image will be compressed - it brings the background into the picture - very different to the human eye.  If you use a wide-angle lens and you get close to your subject it distorts. Compression and distortion can be used effectively to make interesting photographs.

You can then decide if you wish to freeze or blur motion. The human eye can’t do that but the camera can.

You can also control depth - you can decide how much of the image you want in focus. This is not something you can do with your eyes.  Depth of field is an option which can be used very creatively. 

There is also contrast. The human eye is brilliant at managing contrast - how bright or how dark an object is, is one thing. How much detail you have in a shadow area and how much detail you have in a light area - well a camera does not come close to what a human eye can see. Because of this, you can create beautiful images because you can disguise things In shadows or disguise things in the light and create interesting effects.

A camera is also completely different when it comes to colour. The human eye sees colour based on memory. The camera doesn’t do that, the camera records the colour that’s actually there which is very different to the way humans see colour - so this is another creative tool that can be utilised.

Plus with a camera, we can either over-expose or under-expose and this can be used creatively - not every image has to be lit correctly - you can shoot low key, you can shoot high key. You make the decision based on your intent.

We can also use the camera at different angles to create interesting images. One of the concepts used in creating interesting images is to place the camera where you normally wouldn’t - because it is a different angle, people will find the image interesting.

Once a camera takes a picture of a subject the reality changes based on the things mentioned above. This is what makes photography so exciting and this is what we should embrace. What’s the point if everyone took the same image of the same subject - this is just boring.  But allow each person to be creative and you will see completely different images of the same subject. This is what we need to embrace. Embrace creativity.

end of part 2 (part 3 will be next week)

Thanks for reading. Please be in touch to learn more about my work and to book a portrait or personal branding session with me.