Good point. But I'm only using the grayscale example to illustrate the
absurdity of an argument. Obviously, we have long been able to see a
grayscale image as a photographic representation of reality. And all
but the blind now realize that a digitally manipulated image is
likewise a photographic representation of reality. We have most
certainly been taught certain ways of seeing. For example, my children
are all in their late twenties. When they were six or seven years old,
I put a Computer Eyes card in our old Apple II and attached a video
camera. They took pictures of each other. Then they started playing
with them in Dazzle Draw. Eventually, they were swapping heads and
making composites. Today, my second daughter earns a nice living as a
Graphic Designer and PhotoShop artist. She grew up in a digital world
and accepts digital manipulation as a completely normal and desirable
part of the photographic process. People don't "see" the same way today
that they did a quarter century ago, and our ways of seeing our
constantly evolving and changing.
On Jun 19, 2005, at 9:23 AM, Bob W wrote:
in this context, depicting reality and representing reality are
exactly the
same thing. You are heading in the direction of arguing about the
difference
in meaning between depiction and representation, rather than
addressing the
real issue.
You may think that no one could believe the world exists in shades of
grey,
but it ain't necessarily so. An enormous amount of what we assume is
universal in the way we see pictures, is not. People who have different
cultures of the image see pictures in an entirely different way from
us, and
sometimes have to be taught to recognise things that we take for
granted.
For instance, in some isolated Muslim cultures, people didn't
recognise the
humans in pictures that we would consider highly realistic and
representational. People from other cultures have had difficulty
mapping the
2D representation to the 3D reality. Similarly, we have had to be
taught
certain ways of seeing. Consider, for example, how medieval Europeans
depicted the world before Brunelleschi taught us about single viewpoint
linear perspective, then consider how Picasso has (re)taught us about
multiple viewpoint perspective.
--
Cheers,
Bob
Children aren't allowed to see BW photography? No one could
possibly believe that the world exists in shades of gray.
Photos don't depict reality. Photos are representations of
reality that differ from what the eye sees in a variety of ways.
