I am posting this picture today for my son because it is his favorite of my photographs. He enjoys the image because he says it does not "look real". I love his fascination as I tell him that all I did to make it look this way was apply color filters to the image.
Maybe this is a cheesy thing to say, but I keep thinking that there is a lesson here about perception. I like photography because I believe that by making alterations to an image, we show the "truth" of it moreso than if we were to take a perfect snapshot. I feel the same way about writing and painting. If we look at a painting where the artist duplicates exactly what we see in life, we may be impressed by their skill but we will not learn anything new. When we look at a Van Gogh painting, we suddenly gain new appreciations for colors and patterns in the natural world that we did not notice before.
I think that as people we generally obsess too much with finding "truth". We want to know the "right" way of doing everything: eating, exercising, working. We tend to think of truth as something which defies filtration. We think that if something is really true, all people in all cultures in all times will perceive it. When we define truth this way, we feel the compulsion to make others believe our revelations. When we hold onto this definition of truth, our world can get rocked if we one day meet someone whose truth is different than our own.
I believe that we can all benefit from expanding our definition of truth. When I look at my photograph, I see the memories of the lovely day I had in the park when I took the picture. My son sees a video game character. Both of us come away from the experience feeling enriched and joyful, even though we are viewing the photo through the filters of our own perception. Our lives are like this: learning our own truths based on our cultural framework and life experiences. I think that the multiplicity of truth is beautiful.
And I believe that my "truth" can still be "true" even if someone else thinks I am crazy for holding onto it.
Maybe this is a cheesy thing to say, but I keep thinking that there is a lesson here about perception. I like photography because I believe that by making alterations to an image, we show the "truth" of it moreso than if we were to take a perfect snapshot. I feel the same way about writing and painting. If we look at a painting where the artist duplicates exactly what we see in life, we may be impressed by their skill but we will not learn anything new. When we look at a Van Gogh painting, we suddenly gain new appreciations for colors and patterns in the natural world that we did not notice before.
I think that as people we generally obsess too much with finding "truth". We want to know the "right" way of doing everything: eating, exercising, working. We tend to think of truth as something which defies filtration. We think that if something is really true, all people in all cultures in all times will perceive it. When we define truth this way, we feel the compulsion to make others believe our revelations. When we hold onto this definition of truth, our world can get rocked if we one day meet someone whose truth is different than our own.
I believe that we can all benefit from expanding our definition of truth. When I look at my photograph, I see the memories of the lovely day I had in the park when I took the picture. My son sees a video game character. Both of us come away from the experience feeling enriched and joyful, even though we are viewing the photo through the filters of our own perception. Our lives are like this: learning our own truths based on our cultural framework and life experiences. I think that the multiplicity of truth is beautiful.
And I believe that my "truth" can still be "true" even if someone else thinks I am crazy for holding onto it.