“Did you do that in photoshop?”  No, but does it matter? Photography is not reality.  It is not an exact copy of reality.  It is something else all together that we convince ourselves is what was real.

Light strikes a subject and photons are emitted at different wavelengths.  Those photons are focused by a lens onto a sensor and the sensor records the wavelength and intensity of the photons as digital information.  Series of ones and zeros are stored, compressed, transmitted and recompiled to construct an image on a screen.  Those same ones and zeros may be transmitted to a machine that lays down dots of pigment onto wood pulp to create a print.  Light strikes that print and photons are emitted at different wavelengths, travel through our eyes and are interpreted by specialized neurons our perception of color, light and shadow.

So what part of all that is the “reality” of the subject?

Lucas James is a fine art photographer based in Manchester, NH.  He owns Anisotropic Images Photography.