Argumentative Essay On Photography And Fiction

When capturing an image, photographers are deliberately or unintentionally exposing or hiding crucial information without their knowledge. This can be said about any photograph, staged or un-staged. Although most photographs are accepted as being ‘real’, digital technology has increased public questions about the truth of what we now see in photographs. Thus, creating a link between photography and fiction.

When considering photography and fiction, a number of questions arises: is it possible for a photograph to portray something fictional or not? If it’s possible, what are the conditions for this? Conclusive answers for the above questions cannot be given for a number of reasons.

First and fore mostly, photography, more so than any other

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A photograph can be regarded as a fragment of a bigger picture - the photographer captures a part of the truth, which he decides to show the rest of the world. Strictly speaking, when it comes to street photography, the photographed scene must not be staged in order for it to be considered a true reflection of the real world.

For example, a person may be staring across the street in a complete daze, and it’s that emotion that what will make the photograph powerful. It will also be regarded as a true reflection of the ‘bigger picture’: that the person was lost in his thoughts or struggling to cope with the burdens of life. Thus, as long as the photographer does not get involved with natural setting of the scene that he captures, the photograph remains true and without fiction.

Indeed, there are no rules, which forbid the use of fiction in photography, but it remains wrong to lie to your audience. You cannot tell your audience that your photograph is true if you manipulated it to suite your own