Truth be told, photography always lies while giving the impression of telling the truth. First, it takes the three-dimensional world and reduces it to two-dimensions. Second, it can, at will reduce the colorful world into monochrome. Third, the chosen camera angle can display or hide certain things the camera is aimed at.
Like Errol Morris says, "there is an elephant in every photograph, just outside the recorded frame!"
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Now we’re talking about one of the stunts that photography is uniquely capable of producing; truthfully fibbing. It’s also among the most difficult things for a photographer to do nearly as well as Mr. Traub. Must have this book!
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When it comes to photography, what other medium comes preloaded with incredible expectations and demands as to what it will accomplish? What other medium is expected to show “truth”? Painting? Film? Sculpture? New Media? Drawing?
None.
As Walker Evans stayed, photographs often lie - though I’d state they always lie.
It’s not because photography was created to fulfill those unrealistic expectations. It wasn’t. It’s because pundits, critics, and observers laid all of that onto photography.
Photography is a recoding medium. Like being in a crowded cafe with a tape recorder and mic, where the mic is pointed and when the Record button is pushed, a recording of some of what happens can be made. Is it the truth? Who can tell?
A photographer is responsible for the “what” is recorded. The Where, When, How, What of the moment the shutter button captures. The rest comes later. Selecting, editing, exhibiting. The viewer then brings his/her own life to that.. But if it all connects, it may be a truth.
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