I watched a segment on our local news regarding a community that is known for its poverty and violence. They showed the city through the lens of a camera using somber music, dark filters, slow pans and rough corners. The reporter then contrasted the scenes of the area with more vibrant filters, upbeat music, quicker shots, and open areas.
The reporter interviewed residents of the community who were proud of were they lived. They long-felt believed that the outside had an exaggerated opinion of what their neighborhoods were like.
The reporter said,
“You can never achieve reality through the eye of the lens.”
A camera is a piece of technology designed to capture the environment of a moment but it does not tell the whole story. Its colors, feeling and atmosphere have been altered. Some pictures more accurately describe the moment more realistically than others but a picture is not the moment itself.
The reporter made a good point. I should be mindful of the narrative that i tell myself based upon the pictures that I see versus the reality that I live.