THE DIFFICULT INTERPRETATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC REALITY

For the innocent photography is the most obvious form of visual communication in the world. The pictured situation seems clear at first sight until we read the title or the legend underneath. An optimistic sunrise turns out be a sunset after a bad day. An ample body of water may show a lake or a flooding catastrophe. Tears may signal great joy or deep pain and sorrow. That's why most photographers are chasing icons, or if they work out of a studio they try to stage their images meticulously by controlling even the finest details. Street photography is hazardous, and requires patience and fast reactions at the same time. The photographer picks the location first, that's the stage where the anticipated action is going to happen. The happy newlyweds in the picture clearly of east Asian origin and the stage is in front of the Dome of Cologne. The second image clearly depicts place Stravinsky in Paris and two people happy to meet each other. Two examples where the stage dictates the action. Over the last years my interest was focused on Jerusalem, trying to snap images showing situations which are unique to the situation of the eternally disputed city. For my aspired visual objectivity I have been accused quite often alternatively of political incorrectness or even of antisemitism. Writing my own copy with a leftist slant in a rightist country makes it not easy to find a publisher, a publisher with courage.