The Evolution of Photographic Truth, from Darkroom to Digital Reality
“Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field”. —Peter Adams
In discussions about AI-generated images and their impact on photographic truth1, there is a tendency to mourn the loss of something that never truly existed: the idea of photography as an unmediated representation of reality. This nostalgic view overlooks a fundamental truth about photography itself—that from its very inception, it has been a medium of enhancement and manipulation, not merely documentation. When photography emerged in the 19th century, it seemed revolutionary precisely because it appeared to offer something painting couldn’t—objective truth. Where portraits had once been shaped by the artist’s hand, photography promised mechanical objectivity. Yet this promise was always more complex than it seemed. Photographers, as they’ve long understood, don’t simply capture images; they shape them. The creative process in photography extends far beyond the initial capture to include post-processing in the darkroom, where adjustments to exposure and contrast could contribute significantly to the final image. This concept, championed by Ansel Adams2, highlights the crucial role of post-processing in achieving the desired artistic result—much like modern digital photo editing. A fundamental truth about photography is that the final image is always a product of technical and artistic choices, not simply a mechanical recording of reality.