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Filtering in the Truth
Sometimes a distortion of "reality" can reveal hidden truths. Truths that were there all along, but that were not obvious because you were seeing things in an oh-so-conventional way.
The great artists were and are masters of this technique. It has been suggested that the broad brushstrokes of a van Gogh painting such as
"Starry Night" shows how the world appears to someone suffering from a mental illness.
Maybe the intense color of Jonathan Green’s work reveals the emotional state of his subjects.
What if the detached overhead viewpoint of a J. Henry Fair photograph allows us to understand the vast extent and significance of an
"Industrial Scar" much more than if we were standing next to it?
So it is with camera filters. Some filters allow you to see more clearly (UV and Polarizers). Others allow you to see less clearly (Cross Screen and Diffusion).
And of course, others allow the photographer to put her own artistic stamp on an image (Rainbow Spot and Color filters). So does art imitate life? Well, yes.
But the best art, the art that adds so much to our lives, is usually not a mirror-like reflection of what anyone can see. It’s a filtered version of what anyone can see.
Kind of like the sun’s rays emerging from behind a cloud. Anyone can see the sun, but it takes a true artist to show us the light.
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