A few days ago in Sri Lanka, my brother described my 3-year old son with
the phrase, "When reality doesn't meet his expectations, he abandons it
entirely." Not sure if he was quoting another, but it's become my most
recent mantra and I happily apply such perspective to photojournalism
and street photography. However, I would be quick to disagree that
documentary photography is so fettered, unless, of course, you're
documenting what your camera sees while your eyes are closed...but even
still. There is no feeling in truth, it's simply a necessary derivative
for human perception. For example, recommend a historical text, worth
reading, that does not speculate on human character or emotion.
Consider the drunkard recently run-down by a subway train in New York
recently. Which reality was captured by that image? Which reality was
the topic of conversation? Whose horror did its audience share?
On 1/2/13 2:44 PM, John Palcewski wrote:
I am terrified that everything I believe about photography, about this
work, is over because of the computer and easy manipulation of images
it facilitates. This work was always about reality, the hard truth,
and there was never any artifice. I have always believed that my
photographs capture a moment that is real, without setting anything up.
