The truth is a lie

Photographs, in and of themselves, are rarely biased. However, when the subject is caught in a particular moment - such as when Mr. Kowalski was caught swatting a mosquito - the truth can be distorted. To the viewer, seeing only that one moment in time, he appears to be wiping a tear from his eye, when in reality he was just swatting at a small, annoying bug. This proves that photographs can suggest differing realities within the same image. An image of a refugee walking through the rubble can excise many reactions - either suggesting the strength of someone to come back to a scene of destruction, the determination to rebuild a damaged society, or the utter misery experiences when returning to a dirt patch where a village used to be. A picture, much like a text, is subject to interpretation. It is strongly influenced by the caption or text associated with it - buzzwords such as "disaster" would lend a negative air, while words such as "brave" would lend a hopeful, positive air to a situation which is, in fact, quite desperate.