What photography has to say about life

It’s all about perspective.

This portrait was shot through the shelving, "framing" the main subject.

One of the first things I learned as a photography major at Luzerne County Community College is that photography, as well as many other forms of art, is all about perspective.

In Basic Photography class (or just "Basic," as us photo majors call the prerequisite to almost all our other classes), we learn to shoot (photograph) things from different perspectives and angles—from up high looking down at the subject, from down low looking up at the subject, from directly in front of the subject, from the side, from behind, from close up, from far away and through other objects that "frame" the subject. 

Then, in Photo Light and Comp (Photo Lighting and Theory of Composition class), we learn to not just photograph a subject from various angles, but to light it at different angles as well. 

Rembrandt, or 3/4 lighting creates mood.

Front lighting, or putting the subject facing directly into the light, brings out details in the subject, but can leave it looking a bit flat, as it tends to fill in most of the shadows. Side lighting, which puts the subject where the light is falling onto it from one side, uses shadows to reveal texture. "Rembrandt," or 3/4 lighting, creates a mood using heavy shadows. It is achieved by placing the light about midway between front and side lighting positions. In a portrait, this lighting is characterized by a small triangle of light seen just below one eye, beside the nose. Back lighting is when the subject is lit from behind, which creates a silhouette.

If you don't think that's complicated enough, try mixing and matching some of these different lighting situations. All of these examples use only one light source, but many, if not most studio setups use multiple lights falling from different directions onto the same subject. I don't think I even need to get into "key lights" and "fill lights" and lighting ratios for you to get the idea: lighting can present an almost unlimited collection of perspectives and possibilities for a single photograph.

A linear perspective makes this dock appear narrower at the far end.

Then there's the actual concept of perspective and the different defined types, such as linear and aerial perspectives. Linear perspective is seen when two (or more) parallel lines, such as with railroad tracks or the edges of a road, lead off into the distance, appearing closer together, converging at the horizon line.  Aerial perspective, which is most distinct in landscape photography, occurs when there are multiple overlapping layers of objects at various distances away from each other, like mountains or rolling hills. Because of haze and light diffraction, the farther back the objects are, the less distinct they become. And, in the case of mountains and hills, the farther away they are, the more blue they appear in color.

Okay, get to the point.

If you’ve made it this far, you may be wondering what my point is with all of this. One thing I’ve learned from photography and the many different “rules” of composition is that life, like art, is all about perspective.

People and relationships are all about perspective.

Choices and decisions are all about perspective.

Arguments, debates and wars are all about perspective.

Different people see the world from different perspectives. We all perceive the various aspects of life differently and make judgments and decisions, display different attitudes and act individually based on those perspectives. Sometimes our differences are subtle, sometimes enormous. Sometimes they are of little consequence, sometimes catastrophic and other times revolutionary.

There are countless different ways to make a photograph of just one subject. Likewise, there are countless conclusions possible to just one circumstance, one problem or one collection of facts.

Ten different photographers can be given the same assignment to photograph the same product in the same studio with the same tools and equipment available, and ten very different photographs will in the end emerge. Just one of those images isn’t going to be “right” and all the others “wrong.” In the same way, ten different people can come to ten different conclusions regarding a given scenario, based on their varying perspectives. And one person isn’t necessarily right while the rest are all wrong. 

Recently when photographing around some abandoned buildings, my photographer friend who was with me pointed out most of the subjects in her photos were living things--the wildlife around the buildings, while mine were mostly of death--the brokenness and abandonment of the architecture. That's how I came up with the title for this one, "Life and Death."

Embracing this theory that life is all about perspective, I believe, can have an enormous impact on one’s life. (See what I did there?)

Once we realize our ways of thinking aren’t the only ways of thinking, and aren’t the only right ways of thinking, our attitudes will change. “You’re right, and I’m wrong,” becomes, “I disagree, but I get what you’re saying,” or maybe even, “Hey, I never thought about it like that before. You may have something there.” 

Making decisions changes from “This is the only good option I can see here,” to “This is what I think, but maybe I need to consider some different perspectives and seek some advice outside of myself before I come to a final conclusion.”

Ever feel like life has you stuck in a rut, taking the same exact photograph every day of the same subject in the same lighting from the same angle? Maybe it’s time for a change not of scenery, but of perspective.

Everything we see is abstract art.

So, does all of this mean truth is really just a matter of perspective, and although my truth may be different than and even contradictory to your truth, neither is wrong? Is there no such thing as absolute truth, since it’s all relative anyway? 

Well, no. 

See, the reason life, to us as humans, is all about perspective is because everything we see is like abstract art. 

The shapes and colors are what's important in this abstract photo.

By definition (and this definition is in no way exhaustive), abstract photography generally reveals some part, quality or aspect of a subject, rather than the whole. The viewer is rarely informed as to what the whole subject even is. Instead of using the image to creating an accurate portrayal of the subject, the artist is showcasing shape, pattern, texture, color, form, or some small piece of an object in order to invoke emotion, feeling, mystery or some other sense. 

Although we may sometimes feel we have a pretty accurate view on a given situation, it is simply impossible from a human standpoint, a human perspective to truly see the whole picture. 

God, however, is not limited by perspective.

Read that last line again. God is not limited by perspective, and that is why it is even possible for absolute truth to exist.   

Think about it. That’s why we, as humans, can’t fathom the mind of God, and sometimes can’t even fathom the minds of each other. We are not capable of seeing the whole picture. Even the best, clearest, largest and most encompassing view we can get of life is still an abstract piece of the whole. 

God, on the other hand, not only sees all and knows all, He created all. 

God is truth. Ultimate and absolute truth. That is why it is only right that we follow His leading, rather than our own. 

A final thought.

The phrase “From God’s perspective...” is actually pretty ridiculous, when you think about it. Perspective is a human thing. It’s subjective. It’s opinionated. It’s limiting. 

To say God even has a perspective implies it can be argued by another perspective.  

And that’s not God.

So instead of saying “From God’s perspective...” I think it makes more sense to say something like, “According to God’s truth...” Because although at the beginning of this work, I established that it’s all about perspective, maybe I was wrong. 

Maybe it’s all about truth. And God is truth.