A few years go I posted a discussion about Apophenia and Pareidolia in photography https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2020/12/epiphany-in-photography-role-of.html . These are terms used in psychology/psychiatry to describe the seeing of a meaning in forms (clouds, etc) when they really do not exist. In fact, both of these diagnoses fall within the larger umbrella of schizophrenia.
However, every photographer sometimes sees things that from the right angle, can remind us of known shapes. The light, the shade and the angle of view transform a banal object onto what the photographer applies the creativity of imagination.
So, a reader sent me an email about the above posting saying “…when a photographer sees a form and captures it, should he expect that the viewers recognize it too?”
Well, in some way one can ask the same question about abstract painting or sculpture. Clearly, what the artist presents awakes certain feelings and imagination in those who appreciate and support such creative work.
… I have one photo I took in the Taroko National Park, Eastern Taiwan that is among my favorites to illustrate the point. The Park is majestic for hikes, and there are waterfalls feeding the Liwu River that carves the park. From the top the gorge I took a few photos of the falls with a medium format Mamiya 645. During one shot, as I was focusing and looking down the viewfinder, I focused on the rock to blur the falls on the other side of the gorge. And in my viewfinder I saw a phantasmagoric creature looking back at me! It had a salamander like body, a large bump in the parietal bone of the cranium, and was holding a small branch under its….
I took the photo, but did not mention what I saw to my colleagues, who were all medical doctors as we were on a trip to evaluate tuberculosis trends in Eastern Taiwan. I knew what their diagnosis of my moment would be…
When I printed the frame, I was even more worried of my excessive imagination, since the creature seemed to be held by a human! I could discern a human face (nose touching the parietal bump, eye half closed, forehead...) seen from the left side, atop the face of the creature. It looks like he is holding "it" on his left shoulder, and there is almost the right arm of the creature that is hugging the person's left shoulder.
So, here is that photo, atop of this page, I publish for the first time. And for those who just see a rock, here is the cutout.
And here is the human-creature hugging
I leave it to the readers to decide.
February 12, 2023
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023
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