perceptual re-imaging
perceptual re-imaging
"Photography has now become information in the pure state, content without matter...
Issues of meaning will take precedence over issues of representation."
Joan Fontcuberta, Photography. Crisis of History
Issues of meaning will take precedence over issues of representation."
Joan Fontcuberta, Photography. Crisis of History
Perception
Have you ever looked at one of your photos and thought, "That's not what I remember — that's not what I saw?" Many of us have had that experience.
The human capacity for perception and the camera's capacity to capture an image are radically different. The camera's dynamic range is far inferior to ours, and the camera's sensor/film treats all areas of the scene with the same detached technical uniformity.
Our capacity for perception includes eye-flow through the scene in front of us, and our personal interests direct our attention to the most meaningful areas. We edit in the significant and edit out the less meaningful. Elements in the scene cause us to recall iconic and personal memories that add meaning to the scene's story — meaning that is not in the scene but is in our "mind's-eye". These mind-brain processes can not be performed by the camera. They are used by the photographer during composition and editing to create a photograph. From Ansel Adams, "You don't take a photograph, you make it" and "There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer."
Recapturing the original perception
The goal of "perceptual re-imaging" is to use editing to recapture the original perception of the story and convey in the edited image the original perception to the viewer. This goal is achieved by editing the image perceptually to emphasize the key story-telling elements in the scene, create eye-flow to those elements, and deemphasize distraction.
Examples
Clink on a photo below to view enlarged before & after images.
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Déjà Vu
"The illusion of having already experienced something
actually being experienced for the first time."
The American Heritage Dictionary
"The illusion of having already experienced something
actually being experienced for the first time."
The American Heritage Dictionary