However, 'blind faith' in photography is not that simple and with this essay I hope to show that an entirely realist view does not stand up when examined and that the camera can indeed lie

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"The Camera Never Lies"?

There is a saying that 'the camera never lies'. This is a realist view of photography in so far as it trusts the camera thoroughly and without question. These views of photography have led to photographic evidence carrying connotations of truth from evidence in court cases to passport photographs, photo I.D. cards and now driving licences. However, 'blind faith' in photography is not that simple and with this essay I hope to show that an entirely realist view does not stand up when examined and that the camera can indeed lie or deceive.

In the introduction of John Tagg's book The Burden of Representation he mentions Roland Barthes book Camera Lucida and in it that Barthes gives a reassertion of this realist view of photography. Barthes describes the camera as an 'instrument of evidence' and the photographs it produces represent what was put before the lens and that which was photographed 'was there' but what we see in the photograph is a reality we can no longer touch. A photograph is a capture of an event which has happened yet has also passed. (Tagg, 1988, 1). The first real problem with trusting photographs