Allegory Response

The allegory of the cave is essentially a story about people who must spend their entire lives in a cave. They are trapped watching a puppeteer cast shadows on the wall. This parallels photography in that the puppeteer is only giving these people a glimpse of what he wants them to see. Their perception of the world is based on someone else’s images, and a photograph is one in the same. With a photograph you are giving someone a glimpse of a trip, memory, or even a feeling without them actually being there. You are only capturing what you want the viewer to see. This can be distorted by photographer in anyway he/she wants to. As the puppeteer controls what the people trapped in the cave see over the course of their lives he is essentially providing them with a photograph of what he wants them to see.