Digital Horizons: Truth And Reality

Photography isn't automatically an accurate way to capture reality even though it looks like it should be

By Rob Sheppard

Several things have come across my desk recently that tell me that the transition to digital technology is still in the troubled adolescent period. There has become such a fear of digital manipulation in photography that it reminds me of media health scares. Some very real issues are being forgotten, as certain publications that should know better and some photographers have taken extreme positions that claim they're after truth, but actually they're favoring traditional technologies over photographers.

A good example from a fine nature photography book by an excellent photographer includes this note from the photographer: "Nature is reality and truth. My goal in photography is a true and honest documentation of natureÉnone of my images have been digitally altered or otherwise manipulated." Now, besides this being a divisive and unnecessary statement, it's also quite misleading. Nature may be reality and truth, but photography, in itself, is not.

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