The truth of photographic images has been challenged since the 19th century when the means for making them were invented. While the medium was embraced by the public at large, photographers have continued to grapple with the methods and techniques available to them, experimenting with technologies as they emerged and discovering the capacity of the medium to represent the world they experienced.
 
Photographs are inherently subjective in the ways in which they are made and perceived. There is no absolute truth in the photographic image. Photographers frame the reality that they see, whether the process is spontaneous or planned.

The truth of photography relies not only on the integrity of the image, but on its context and accessibility.

VIEWING TRUTH IN PHOTOGRAPHY

The themes can be viewed in sequence or in whichever order the viewer chooses. Select a theme from the menu bar at the top of the page, or click one of the buttons below.​​

FOCUS

Focus highlights photographers, organizations, and issues crucial to our understanding and questioning of Truth in Photography.

THE HISTORY WAR
Larry Towell

Conflict photographer Larry Towell (Magnum Photos) discusses difficult issues facing photographers, from publishing photographs of atrocities to the ever changing media landscape to the growing threat of AI.

MEMORIES OF DUST
Alex Bex

​French-Texan photographer Alex Bex interviewed and photographed cowboys to explore their culture and how it has influenced an ideal of manhood in the American West.

HUMAN DESTINIES ON THE EDGE
Mikkel Hørlyck

Mikkel Hørlyck's first decade as a photojournalist was marked by encounters with neglected groups of people, from refugees and rescue workers to warriors fighting for human rights. This photo essay covers a number of themes in his work, including war, gender-based violence, the climate crisis, poverty, and migration.

Ephemeral Beauty
Ning Kai and Sabrina Scarpa

Photography duo Ning Kai and Sabrina Scarpa are partners in both life and work who seek solitary places to capture and convey moments of intimacy and clarity. 

40 YEARS OF DOCUMENTARY ARTS

​This section focuses on Documentary Arts, the producer of Truth in Photography, which is celebrating 40 years of broadening public knowledge and appreciation of the arts of different cultures in all media. Multiple exhibitions highlighting Documentary Arts will be on view at the Center for Photography at Woodstock from ​September 20, 2025 – January 11, 2026. Quiet Voices in a Noisy World, a new Documentary Arts film which heavily features photographer Alonzo Jordan, will be released this fall.

EVERYDAY CULTURE
​Curated by Brian Wallis

Everyday Culture is a survey of seven key Documentary Arts projects that embody an innovative approach to recording and documenting overlooked and often marginalized cultural forms such as tattooing, blues, folk and traditional arts, and community photography. 

Kinship & Community
​Curated by Nicole R. Fleetwood​

Kinship & Community presents selections from the more than 60,000 images in the Texas African American Photography Archive, focusing on Black community photographers working in Texas from 1942 to 1984.
Copyright © 2025 Documentary Arts, Inc.