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Article: Testimony True And Twisted
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 5, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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PHOTOGRAPHY, like all perpetrators, is presumed innocent.
However subjective the testimony, we assume the photographer is
witness to reality. The camera does not lie; in this era of mass
telemedia, it is more a tenet of faith than a form of justice.
But art does "lie" - transform, terrify, connect, imply, inspire,
criticize, elevate, imitate and disparage. Art is concerned not with
verisimilitude but with truth; and two exhaustive photography
exhibits, at the National Gallery of Art and National Museum of
American Art, are summary proof of the variety and persuasion of the
photographer's art.
In fact, the two Washington exhibits are so distinct and so
nearly contradictory that they ...