A Lens on the World

It is safe to assume that at some point, everyone has been taught to not trust everything that they read on the Internet. Whether you learned this lesson from a teacher, lecturing you for using Wikipedia as the only source for your research paper, or a friend who dismissed the "shocking fact" you just discovered online as a lie you were gullible enough to believe, most people have adopted some degree of skepticism when viewing information from sources that aren't known for their credibility. However, the manipulation that can exist within the world of photography is something that often goes unnoticed. While we recently are becoming more informed of how inaccurate the Photoshopped images that surround us in all forms of media can be, even unedited photos can possess a high degree of bias. The statement that "the camera doesn't lie" has little weight beyond its role as a common misconception. 

At the same time, it is still important that these images, regardless of their bias, are seen by audiences. Virtually no media exists that can completely avoid the influence of its creator, and so while photos still are incapable of depicting the whole truth, a world without them would present an even greater inaccuracy. Some would argue that it is not in the public's best interest to show images as graphic and horrible as the current events occurring in our world today, but it is important that we have exposure to such injustices and that reality isn't watered down in favor of showing us what we want to see. The truth of the matter is that no matter how accurate, authentic, and free of bias an image is or seeks to be, there are some aspects of the scene that are impossible to convey. Just as Art Spiegelman struggles to communicate the accuracy of the emotion and atmosphere his father lived through during the Holocaust in his graphic novel Maus, an image, no matter how impactful, can't begin to paint the reality of what it was like to experience the tragedy it depicts. But regardless of what a representation may lack, some exposure is better than living in a cloud of ignorance.