So-called «natural» photography is one of the greatest misunderstandings in the history of the image.. Behind this reassuring word lies a tenacious illusion: that of a neutral, faithful, objective image. (And yet, as soon as you frame, choose a focal length, a light, a moment, you are already interpreting the world, don't you think? 🧐
1. Photography has never been neutral ? 🤔
From the very beginning, photography has never been a crude copy of reality. The first photographers were already choosing :
Each image was a technical and artistic interpretation, even if the word was not yet in use. Absolute neutrality does not exist in photography, or in any art form. As with painting and music, photography is always a subjective act. It bears the imprint of the beholder.
2. The modern myth of « loyalty »
Digital technology has reinforced this illusion. Colour profiles, ever more powerful sensors, the promise of «real rendering»... All of this fosters the idea that a camera can reproduce the world as it is. Does the world exist without the gaze, our eyes ?
Two people in the same place will never see exactly the same thing: (and that's just as well, wealth comes from difference).
What we photograph is not the world. It is our encounter, our gaze, our perception, our relationship with this world.
3. Framing is already an interpretation
Even before any retouching, our first creative gesture is the frame. We are already doing more to exclude reality than to capture it. And this choice is profoundly artistic.
A simple step to the left:
A tree can become the subject... or disappear altogether. 😰
In my opinion, photography begins long before the computer. It begins in the body, in movement, in intuition.
4. Light is never «objective»
Light doesn't just illuminate. It tells the story and expresses itself. Hard, low-angled, diffused, cold, warm... each transforms the emotion of the scene completely.
A mountain landscape under a milky sky is nothing like the same landscape under a low winter sun. The place is the same. But the image tells a different story, conveys a different emotion. Light is writing, our camera is just paper.
5. Retouching is not a betrayal
This is where the greatest misunderstanding arises: retouching would be a falsification. I think this is wrong. Retouching is a conscious interpretation, whereas shooting is often an intuitive interpretation.
Adjust a contrast, balance a dominant, darken a sky, open up a light... is not lying. It's clarifying your intention, express, even more: « SHARE » what you're feeling emotionally.
The camera has its limits, as do the dynamics of the sensors and our eyes. Retouching can be used to bring the image closer to what we really felt when we captured it. We could very well have taken a moment, an hour earlier or later...? 🤔 In fact, aren't we trying here to capture an emotional mood ? 🤔
6. Fine Art: taking on interpretation
In Fine Art photography, interpretation is no longer an accident. It becomes an accepted position.
No more searching:
We are looking for :
A Fine Art photograph doesn't say «this is what I saw». It says « this is what I felt ».
7. The eye always precedes the technique
We too often confuse technical progress with artistic progress. And yet you can master your equipment perfectly and still produce empty images.
Conversely, the right look can transcend a simple tool. The look :
Technology simply executes.
8. Nature, travel, landscape: interpretation is inevitable
In nature and when travelling, the illusion of neutrality is even stronger. You think you're « documenting ».
But we always choose:
We show a landscape that is calmer than it sometimes is. Or more dramatic. We magnify, we refine, we sculpt. But in fact, without meaning to, we interpret ... 🧐
9. The image as a translation of the living
To photograph is to translate. Translating a vibration into light. Translating silence into form. Translating stillness into inner movement.
Photography is not a mirror. It is a language of communication that can be more or less subtle.
10. Conclusion : The truth is not in neutrality
There's no such thing as «natural» photography, I think... 😊 What there is is honest photography.
Honest in its intent. Honest in its emotion. Honest in what it seeks to convey. Assuming interpretation does not mean betraying reality. It means give it depth. And maybe that's just the point, photography's greatest mission: not to show the world as it is, but to reveal what it does to us.
If this article resonates with the way you see the image, then you're already one of those who doesn't just record the world... but tells the story. 🥳 If you'd like to meditate further on reality and interpretation and post-production I invite you to read my article on the colours of autumnor read other philosophical articles here.
That's it, that's today's philosophy 🤓 don't hesitate to leave your opinion in the comments section, or visit my galleries,
thank you for reading,
David
