Life through a lens
Lenses do more than simply make something look closer or further away.
They radically alter your relationship with your subject and the way you take pictures.
Watch Hitchcock’s Rear Window and you’ll see what I mean. An injured press photographer finds himself confined to his apartment and seduced by the power of a telephoto lens. From his wheelchair, he gains access to the outside world through the lens, but only as an observer, obsessed with spying on his unsuspecting neighbours from afar.
Depending on its weight, a lens can make you more mobile or slow you down. Depending on its size, a lens can make you highly visible or totally discreet. Depending on its magnification, a lens can turn you into an active participant or a distant voyeur.
Each of these qualities has its advantages and disadvantages. And, as we’re about to see, lenses can also distort the sense of space in a photograph and change its emphasis. But, more importantly, lenses affect what you’re actually able to photograph, as different subjects call for different types of lenses.
This chapter is going to help you understand some fundamental visual effects of different lenses. But first, let’s get to the bottom of some essential lens lingo that will see you through even the most gruelling of camera-club conversations.