Photographs have always been filtered through the human mind (shown Ansel Adams photo). A person in a dark room, making a print, has choices of how to proceed, and the result is a representation of those choices.
The idea that a photo is indeed reality is bogus.
The daguerrotype show in New York (oh, all right, I haven’t seen it yet–I’ve seen the pictures of the pictures and I’ve seen other daguerrotypes, and I’ve seen pinhole photos too) only serves to emphasize this issue. The sharpness of detail of a daguerrotype is different from the detail of a 35 mm. reflex camera. Which image is the truth?
NASA’s digital mosaics or composite images of space phenomena have the intention of representing reality. NASA is forthright about their method.
It’s only if, in a truth-telling context, a photographer deliberately misleads, that there’s a problem.
Digital media may make it harder to spot manipulation, and may make manipulation easier, but the fundamental issues remain the same.
