Does The Camera Lie?

Does the camera lie? The camera takes an image which is composed by the photographer using the lens that he or she has chosen. There is some distortion going on here because a different compostition could give a different story. There is some distortion because generally a lens is chosen that mimics the way the eye sees things, but this does not have to be the case.

The eye can focus on subjects that are near or far. It does not focus on everything, but commonly everything is in focus in photography. The photographer is in charge of this distortion. Have they used black and white or any other tinting. What is the truth? Some people do not have colour vision. Some people are colour blind. Commonly red and green are seen as the same colour.

You can look at the vast array of untruths to be found on the computer. If there is radial blur or motion blur of any kind who is to say that this is a lie? This could be exactly the way that the image was seen. Screw your eyes up and you get a lot of distortion. Is this a lie? When Monet painted in his garden at Giverny his eyesight was poor. Are those water lilies from the mind of an impressionist or is that the way things looked to him?

There are lots of question marks in this blog because I want you to come to your own conclusions. As for my opinion, I really don't mind how the the camera bends the truth as long as it is not hurting anyone and the distortion is for artistic reasons. I would even advertise Audi cars (see blog 17th March). Does the camera lie? First of all you have to define the truth.

Happy snapping