“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
She took a step back and squinted her eyes, the way everyone does when looking at those magic eye pictures.
“So…..is it Photoshop or is it real?”
I’m never sure how to answer that question, and it’s one I hear a lot.
It’s actually a philosophical question to which my answer would be “Both” but there is rarely time at a show to go into the ins and outs of reality. Here, on the other hand, we can afford to take a few moments to think about what we mean when we say “reality.”
I don’t think that anyone who asks this question is asking it because they want to get into a discussion about whether my experience of the world is the same as yours. It’s a fascinating thought though, isn’t it?
Do I experience something in the same way that you do? And can we ever know and understand someone else’s “reality?” The answer to the first question is “it depends.” It depends on where I grew up, what language I speak, what my beliefs are. And the answer to the second question is where the function of art comes in (for me, at least).
But let’s go back to the original question for a moment.
“Is it real?”
When we ask this question, are we then talking about the appearance of reality? Is this how something actually looks? Is this how it looked on that day? Is this how it would have looked to me, if I had been there with you.
There are many photographers who photograph things “as they are” and there are many photographers who prefer to manipulate things physically, rather than digitally. They might add smoke or bring elaborate props to their shoots, but they prefer not to manipulate their images in any other way. The point at which they draw the line also varies from photographer to photographer, another way that we can tell that “reality” is not a constant.
Perhaps it is my experience with having a “realistic” career that has meant that I am not especially interested in reality.
Not in my life and certainly not in my work. My aim is never to show things as they are but to show you how they seem to me.
If I can do that in the spirit of genuinely sharing my experience, I believe I create a connection between us that is more powerful than it would be if I merely said (out of the blue) “you know, sometimes I feel really small” and you said “yeah, I know what you mean.”
And when I show you how I feel, and you understand it because you have felt it too, we’re back at question number two – can we ever know and understand someone else’s reality? I believe we can, and I believe this is the purpose of art. To communicate one’s experience of the world so that others can see it, compare it with their own, and know that they are not alone.
This question has been preoccupying me of late because I’m working on some new images. And they’re a little different and I’m worried. I’m worried about how I’m going to answer the question about Photoshop vs Reality.
These images are more manipulated than anything I’ve done before. I’m creating worlds from scratch, using scraps of other images – a hill here, a river there, a wall in the foreground. I’ve been working hard at learning new skills and techniques to help me accomplish things that wouldn’t have been possible for me a year ago.
I’m excited about the possibilities and though I wish the lack of recognisable places in my work will lead to fewer questions about “reality” I think the opposite is more likely.
Perhaps that is a good thing.
Perhaps then the question will not be about Photoshop and instead will be about understanding and acceptance of the ways in which our realities are similar and the ways in which they are different. That’s a conversation I’d very much like to have.