metonymy4u

One could say that photography gets us closer to the truth (the noumenal). The lens, the film, the shutter, none of them seem to engage any sort of synthesis. Light travels in its manifold and lands on the film. Every photon reaches its destination. Every wave is fulfilled. Whereas the painter, clearly, synthesizes a more stretched out consideration. Painting as meditative activity seems more “subjective.” What people forget is that the frame was selected by the photographer. The synthesis is less visible certainly. Perhaps more “a priori” than with other aesthetics. That, I think, is why we find it so startling to encounter. It’s more truth than we can apprehend on our own. Yes, the camera does help. But the photograph is still a created thing, a fiction.