Perception is never merely sensible. A professional photographer points out that our “visual” impressions of people are formed not merely by visual factors but by such factors as the context in which we see someone, their personality and our rapport, and so forth. We can come away from an encounter thinking that someone is far more visually attractive than they really are. A camera, which captures only the visual impression and not other factors, makes a person look “uglier” than we remember.
Question: Which is the true appearance? The purely visual appearance that the camera takes or the appearance that we record through a combination of visual and other factors?
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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