Viewing a Photograph

When someone hands us a photograph, it takes only an instant to respond or react. We can take a longer time ruminating over the image, but we make up our mind pretty darn fast.

We forget that a photograph is the capture of an instant in time on film or taken digitally. Sometimes the photo is pleasing. Sometimes it is not. Taken an instant before or an instant after, our reaction might be completely opposite of the one we are experiencing now.

The photographer can use composition, lighting, viewpoint, framing, shutter speed, and depth of field to affect the outcome. When he shoots landscapes, he has the most control. When he brings people into the scene things change. Even when he has the control of elements and poses in the studio, he cannot control a person's self-perception. Shooting people in situations outside the studio puts him at great risk of failure, rejection, and condemnation. There are so many variables that he cannot control. In the instant that the shutter clicks, maybe he will get lucky.

Keep these things in mind when you view a photograph. A moment before or after the click, you were probably beautiful.

Whether or not a photograph is taken outside or taken inside a studio, it is documentary. Posed, you look pretty good because of all that is disguised. Otherwise, you are stuck with awful truth, which may or may not be discomforting. That is how you looked in that instant.