6 things the
public knows about how photographs “work”
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What is this page about?
Sight.
Light.
Space.
Motion.
Time.
Stasis.
As basic as the laws of physics, the effects of these six elements are at the root of the public’s knowledge of how single-exposure, undoctored photographs “work.”
These six elements are the basis of the first six requirements of the Trust Test — the six requirements that expressly spell out what can and cannot be done to TTG photographs.
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P1 is based on SIGHT.
The public knows that nobody really has x-ray vision; seeing for humans is largely limited to what scientists call “the visible spectrum” (Wikipedia).
(“It always has been about human seeing,” as it says in FAQ #120.)
P1 helps reassure viewers that no TTG-qualified photograph was rendered by anything other than visible light, whether it’s AI-generated content or electromagnetic waves outside the range of human vision.
FAQ on P1
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P2 is based on LIGHT.
The public knows that unless an aspect of a photograph is related to “light,” that aspect will not change on its own when a photograph is reproduced in a new format.
Forms and shapes in the photograph don’t magically appear or disappear, or move or resize or reshape or blur themselves, when the same photograph is viewed in different formats — for example on a device’s screen vs. in a printed version of the same photograph.
P2 reassures viewers that non-“light”-related changes to the photograph are kept to a limited number of universal practices (see FAQ #800).
More on “light”
FAQ on P2
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P3 is based on SPACE.
The public knows that in a single-exposure, undoctored photograph, the appearance of the subject depends on “spatial relationships” — where the camera is positioned and pointed in relation to the subject.
For example, a tourist with a smartphone will instinctively crouch down and point the camera up to get into the frame both the human subject and the tall building behind the subject.
P3 reassures viewers that a TTG photograph made by combining exposures does not depict different spatial relationships than if it had been made with a single exposure.
FAQ on P3
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P4 is based on MOTION.
The public knows that a single-exposure, undoctored photograph usually depicts moving objects in continuous light in one of four familiar ways:
• frozen still;
• blurred but recognizable;
• unrecognizably blurred; or
• invisibly.
P4 reassures viewers that if there were moving objects in the scene, in a TTG-qualified photograph those objects won’t be rendered in any way other than those four familiar ways.
FAQ on P4
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P5 is based on TIME.
The public knows that a single-exposure, undoctored photograph depicts what happened in front of the camera “at a single moment in time.”
(See “D” in FAQ #120)
Smartphone technologies make it unrealistic to limit TTG to single-exposure photographs, but P5 ensures that all TTG-qualified photographs conform to one of the definitions of “a single moment in time.”
FAQ on P5
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P6 is based on STASIS.
(“Stasis” = permanence, equilibrium, stillness, “staticness,” non-change)
The public knows that unlike a video or a GIF, a single-exposure, undoctored photograph’s appearance does not change while it is being viewed.
P6 reassures viewers that a TTG-qualified photograph will not change in appearance when viewed by different viewers at different times.
FAQ on P6
The presence, absence, and nature of these six elements affects the appearance of every photograph ever made: