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pher’s surrounding world. As further technical means of expression, the
photographer can select the shutter speed, the light filter and the exposu-
re setting.
Similar to a painter, the skilled photographer has a perception of the
finished picture to be created before the shutter is released, distinguis-
hing him from the “snap shooter“. Reality and perception form the intel-
lectual pillars of each representation of nature. But there are several pos-
sibilities to bring reality and perception into compliance in the sense of a
photographic art work. Four examples are given below.
1 – The random concurrence of reality and perception
Example: On the afternoon of the 31
st
of October 1941, Ansel Adams is
on his way home from Chama Valley to Santa Fe. He suddenly sees the
small village Hernandez. The moon is rising over it, and the setting sun is
illuminating a long string of clouds with its streak of light. In the fore-
ground, a cemetery, a church and a few buildings can be seen. In the
background, there are a few mountain tops. At the last moment, Adams
positions his 8 x 10 inch camera and, at exactly 4:03 pm, shoots the photo
which is to become his most famous one.
In this example, reality and perception are completely consistent with
each other. Adams only needed to press the shutter-release to create an
unforgettable photographic work. This ideal case is rather unusual in
practice. For instance, in order to bring reality and perception into ac-
cord, the nature photographer often has to search painstakingly for reali-
ty (the landscape) until a place is found which complies with his or her
idea. The photographer then has to wait for the lighting conditions, pe-
ople, animals, clouds etc. which are desired as visual content.
2- The precipitated concurrence of reality and imagination
Examples: The photographer Jeff Wall works out scenes from daily life in
the manner of a screenplay. These scenes are performed with actors and
photographed during their performance. This way, he creates a reality on
the basis of his imagination. The same can be said of the photographer
Andreas Gursky, who changes the real content of his photographs on the
computer, adding or removing elements and creating realities which
have been altered according to his imagination. On the other hand, the
model maker and photographer Thomas Demand accurately recon-
structs places well-known through the media with paper and cardboard.
These models are then photographed. Thus, he gives them a new identity
in order to create a new reality according to his imagination.
3- The extended reality in the sense of a concept of time
Examples: On the 21
st
of December 1970, the photographer Jan Dibbets
photographed the same view from a window at “Galerie Konrad Fischer“
in Düsseldorf of a street, maintaining intervals of six minutes for a total of
80 times. The series of photographs began in the darkness of morning
and ended in the darkness of the evening. The 80 pictures were arranged
as a series in ten columns and eight rows and then copied onto a photo
wall with the measurements 175 x 180 cm.
The photographer Monika Baumgartl first photographed the brightly il-
luminated moon in Greece in 1968 with a shutter speed of one second.
Through multiple exposures and the same camera position, the same ne-
gative was exposed repeatedly. Thus a time-intervalled depiction of the
moon’s orbit around the earth was created.
