Is he an Alcoholic or a Millionaire? 6 Photographers Shoot the Same Guy to Show the Power of Perspective
You will not believe this! This guy can be anybody! 6 Photographers Shoot the Same Guy to show the power of perspective, and you can’t tell who he really is!
A recent experiment developed by Canon Australia, involved six different artists who were asked to take very different photos of the same man.
What the photographers didn’t know is that the guy told them different back story. They were given different characteristics that define Michael, such as life-saver, a commercial fisherman, a self-made millionaire, an ex-convict, an alcoholic, and a psychic.
What they didn’t know is that Michael, is none of the above. The truth is that he is just an actor who was hired by Canon Australia to make this experiment happen.
With this experiment, Canon Australia wanted to prove the power of perspective.
“A photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than what is in front of it,” wrote Canon Australia.
These photographers uncovered many things, among them is that while seeing is believing, we can be lead to believe the wrong things.
This reminds me of that story when a photographer uncovered the truth about the Instagram cropping. Remember that?
Then, this model shows up and says that is all a fake and that Instagram isn’t want you think.
You know that saying, if more than two people say you’re drunk, you go to bed and sleep. The same thing happens here.
More and more projects uncover the reality about how harsh Instagram, and not only, is.
So this time, it was Canon that conducted this experiment to show the power of perspective in portrait photography.
Alcoholic
Psychic
Commercial Fisherman
Life-Saver
Ex- Convict
Self-Made Millionaire
The experiment, titled “Decoy” was intended to prove the point that a photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than by what is really in front of it, and to “shift creative thinking behind the lens.”
We found the social experiment very interesting because it demonstrates how the photographer’s vision perception and personal biases can shape the results.
It also raises some interesting conversations about how media can frame a story with a certain angle or sentiment.
Further, it also reveals how differently each photographer can capture the same subject but use their own angle, lighting and perspective to frame the subject and imbue it with their style and vision.
To be part of future ‘The Lab’ experiments, head over to Canon Australia’s website.
What do you say of this experiment of the six photographers who shoot portraits of the same guy but with a twist?
