Veil of reality

Photography as truth has never been bought more into question as it is in today’s image saturated, hyper real, image curated world.

A recent image i made had me questioning what i was seeing once the roll of film was processed, scanned and returned to me. Was this because of a now inherent mistrust of what we are seeing, even in this case if I made the photograph? I think it must be.

The cat - is it real or not? For a split second, had me second guessing too. No point in revealing if it is or not from my perspective. Some things we just aren’t meant to know and that is what makes something a little magic, sitting in the grey space between absolutes of black and white judgement. Even if it is just a simple photograph.

Going deeper I think that is what was the allure of photography for me some 30 years ago. I was searching for meaning in the non-absolute world where magic, poetry and beauty can present itself in ways never encountered before. In a sense the perfectionism of our digital world has taken that away and hence why there has been a return to film for a new generation of photographers.

This image was shot on film, and is the scan as prepared by Hillvale photo lab.

© Christian Pearson, The cat at the window - 2026

Camera: Nikon FM-2, Film: Kodak Gold 200