This almost freeform rumination on the philisophical groundings for photography by Barthes reminded me of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. In this story, Dorian Gray, a man of extreme physical beauty, is the subject of a strikingly realistic portrait by his friend Basil. Acutely vain and deceitful, he chooses to “sell his soul” in order to retain his youthful physique. The portrait then becomes the embodiment of his soul and becomes increasingly more mutated and grotesque as Dorian tunnels deeper into hedonism. In Barthes’ writing, he discusses the true meaning of photos. Oftentimes, we consider photos to be a frozen frame to reality. Barthes challenges this notion by stating “‘myself’ never coincides with my image; for it is the image which is heavy, motionless, stuborn…‘myself’ which is light, divided, and dispersed.” This asks us to consider whether photography is the truest reflection of reality or in fact the most fraudulent. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the most stunning realization of the story is the dire disconnect between the Dorian of the portrait Dorian himself, adeptly conveying the age-old adage that “looks can be deceiving.” The physical reality that’s captured by photos is therefore often at odds with the truth of reality.