More Than a Rock, 2nd Edition

Lie Like You Mean It8

Why do most great pictures look uncontrived? Why do photographers bother with the deception, especially since it so often requires the hardest work of all? The answer is, I think, that the deception is necessary if the goal of art is to be reached . . .

—Robert Adams

I once complimented a fellow photographer on an image of remarkable beauty—a pristine alpine lake reflecting a blazing red sky and rugged granite peaks. It looked so peaceful and inviting, the kind of place that might move a person to find a quiet perch and conjure up poetry. The photographer’s response was casual and blunt, “Oh, the mosquitoes were terrible up there.” Not long after, at a formal dinner party, I sat next to someone who turned out to be a mathematics ...