In its early delivery, photography was developed as a means to portray the realism of subjects and places in a naturalistic manner, much in the way that paintings would attempt to mirror the world. The idea that images are ‘taken’ or ‘captured’ is a traditional notion that most people connect with, as there is an ontological desire for people to distinguish variations of photographic practice. The concept that images can be ‘made’ is a contrasting belief, as it suggests that subject matter is manipulated, staged and subjectively false. However it is possible for images to be taken and made, depending on the objective of the image. After all, an image of any kind is only a representation of a perceived reality.
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s dioramas are an example of how staged imagery, compromised of real objects and captured scenery, can be created to replicate the naturalistic quality of seeing. Although the images are staged, they represent a reality that we can relate to through the use of recognisable icons and indexical elements, which allow the content to appear as real as it would in the physical location that the image represents. As a result the ambition to capture a scene to inform the viewer in a manner that appears to follow a visual model, succeeds in its intention.
This poses the question as to whether it matters that the image is staged, as the denotation of the image on location or set is ultimately the same. As Uta Barth states in Mirlesse, 2012:
“Mostly the camera is used as a sort of pointing device. One goes out into the world and points it at something of beauty, something of importance, a spectacle of some sort.”
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