Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]What's all this nonsense and turing tests that mean nothing? Any idiot can tell the difference between a photo of a window and the window. And I know cats that DO react to the TV. There is as much truth in those windows as there is in any phrase written in the history of the world. Words are abstractions. Just because someone speaks in Urdu and I don't understand a word of it doesn't mean truth is not being communicated to those who speak the language. The same with photographs. Just because some ancient tribe doesn't get them does not condemn the process of photography to fiction. If there's a photograph of someone being run over by a bus (remember last week?) and the photographer says "Yes, that is an accurate representation of the facts, the person was run over by the bus," then that photograph is telling the truth. You won't get the meaning of life out of it, or every single aspect of the incident - or even a comprehensive survey of the neighborhood around the accident. But then, we don't expect photographs to do that. And yet, that photogrpah spoke the truth of what it represents. Just like ever other truth, in any given medium it might be transmitted in, is communicated. In broken, human, conceptions of various levels of accuracy, validity and completeness. Some photographs tell the truth clearly, some perambulate about upon the suburbs of veracity, and others economize on the truth. Holograms might be cooler, but they won't speak much more truth in any meaningful way. On Wednesday, August 6, 2003, at 12:31 PM, LRZeitlin@aol.com wrote: > What's all this nonsense about photos or music being "realistic"? Eric Welch Carlsbad, CA http://www.jphotog.com If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. - Will Rogers. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html