The filters of experience, prejudice, understanding, philosophy, religion, age, appreciation, comfort or discomfort, good day or bad -- all color the way we see the world.
Below are several versions of a photo of the statue of the grieving Christ outside the Oklahoma City National Memorial, commemorating the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building. Each image is affected by various filters imposed by photo editing software -- each filter is overlaid the others, until the image underneath is far different from the original.
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| Christ (c2015, KB) |
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| Christ in black and white (c2015, KB) |
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| Christ in black and white, with blue duo-tone (c2015, KB) |
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| Christ in black and white, with blue duo-tone, overlaid with a filter to make it appear as if taken circa 1960 (c2015, KB) |
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| Christ in black and white, with blue duo-tone, 1960s, and Cinemascope effects (c2015, KB) |
The order matters, as well. If trauma colors our world at a young age, we will view it through a different filter than we might if that same trouble arrived when we were older.
Below, black-and-white and Cinemascope effects were applied in different orders. When the movie effect was applied first, then the monochrome, the image looks crisp. However, when the order was reversed, the image takes on a sepia cast.
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| Christ in color, as if filmed in Cinemascope (c2015, KB) |
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| Christ in Cinemascope with the color removed (c2015, KB) |
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| Christ in black and white, then "Cinemascoped" (c2015, KB) |
Is there something in life you're not seeing clearly?
Are there colors you think you're perceiving, but your friends, colleagues, loved ones -- or perfect strangers on social media -- do not view?
Before we impugn one another's intelligence, reputations, abilities, etcetera, it might be wise to step back and consider the filters through which we -- and they -- view the world.
reposted from Adventures in Fiction, August 7, 2015
