Courtesy of Museum of Photographic Arts

Photography is a powerful medium in which the art of storytelling is taken to another level, where nonfiction can be turned into fiction, and a real-world image can be bent to the photographer’s intent and perspective. Balboa Park’s Museum of Photographic Arts “Picturing the Process: The Photograph as Witness” explores the photographer’s purpose for making their art.

The first panel opens with a reflection of the art of photography and how it affects reality. A panel in the exhibit claims, “While photographic images are bound in some way to realism, they do not always create truthful depictions.” Instead, photos are the form in which photographers display their view of the world. “The Photograph as Witness” focuses on documentary photography in the areas of family, conflict, human experience, American culture and landscape. Each category features images unique to those experiences, such as Sally Mann’s “Tobacco Spit,” a photo exploring the intricacies of childhood and growing up through the image of an old and dirty laborer holding a glowing white child, similar to the image of a renaissance Madonna. The photo emphasizes this contrast between the two characters exhibiting aging in the human condition.

The gallery approaches photography in an educational way, having the viewers analyze the differences in images and observe the intricate subtleties of different styles of photography. Images are set side by side along with descriptions and information on the photo, the text asks viewers to search for and understand the different intents of photographers and the result following that purpose. Some photos were created to start reform, others to display a person’s character and others to track changes in society.

There is also an interactive area equipped with stereographs and images for visitors to read about and experiment with, learning how stereographs work and how they were used to create 3-D images. These interactive areas give visitors a better understanding of how photography has progressed throughout time and how it is created now. “Picturing the Process: The Photograph as Witness” is an amazing gallery to behold and engages visitors in the world of photography as an art form and a tool for documenting history.

“Picturing the Process: The Photograph as Witness” is on display until Feb. 6 of next year at the Museum of Photographic Arts at Balboa Park.