Photographic Evidence

A powerful aspect of photography is the tight relationship between image and what was in front of the camera at the moment of exposure. Leaving aside (for now) Photoshop and other “tricks”, when we see a photo, we can more or less extrapolate from the two dimensional image to the three dimensional reality that photo records. And although there is a huge amount of subjectivity in even the most “truthful” photograph, that analogous relationship between event and image has a tremendous impact on how we understand the image we see. As much as we understand that a photo doesn’t tell the whole truth, we understand that it tells a lot of truth.

Twenty-plus years ago, as a student, I looked at the classic tourist shot “Here I am, in front of this place that I’ve travelled hundreds or thousands of miles to see” as painfully unsophisticated. If you want a shot of the Colosseum, or Times Square, or whatever, why not get the professionally rendered image available for 25 cents on a postcard?

Now I get it. Not only do I take those sorts of photos when we travel, when I come across people making these sorts of photos, I’ll always stop and offer to take the picture for them, so that no one in the group ends up being left out. (I also take a secret pleasure in knowing that their “Here we are” photo might be just turn out a little better than average.)

The photo above is of yours truly, taken a little more than a year ago when I was bringing our boat up the Eastern Seaboard. After more than four months of living aboard, I was in the best shape I had been in years; lean, tan, strong. I was also away from my wife Peggy and wanted to maintain an erotic connection with her across the distance. A camera-phone, the full-length mirror; not much concern for lighting, a little concern for odds and ends in the background, a little concern for framing (this image is a cropped version of the one I sent my wife!)

The meaning in this photo doesn’t come from any great finesse with the Art of Photography. The meaning comes from the simple but powerful ability of a photo to serve as evidence, of a time, a place, a feeling, an intention, “Here I am. I’m thinking of you. I miss you. I’ll be home soon.” A few buttons pushed, and the photo, and all that meaning travels almost instantly from a boat off the Carolina coast back to my wife in New York.

How about you? Have you ever used a photo in a similar way? If so, I’d love to hear about it; on your blog, in the comments here, or by e-mail [tony at camera play for couples dot com].