Charles 46277 Loc: Fulton County, KY

I call it graphics, which can be photography--or drawing, etc.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Where would you get a photograph of George Washington to add to another photo? Adding non-photographic elements to a photo make it mixed media. And again, composite photographs have been made since photography was invented, and they have always been called photography. There have also always been photographs which were not a representation of something the eye can see. They have also always been called photography.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Again, you are arguing with the dictionary.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

And you are arguing with what has been considered photography throughout its history.

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The dictionary is not a photographically oriented nor artistically oriented reference work. It’s just a very generalized glossary. It is absolutely necessary to go beyond it ... which is not necessarily the same as contradicting it.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Quite an Orwellian comment.

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Quite apropos on page 24 ;-)

Daryl New Loc: Wellington,New Zealand

Could be right Longshadow.

Charles 46277 Loc: Fulton County, KY

Some words are adequately defined by dictionaries, for purposes of everyday language, but the definition of "good" in a dictionary does not tell you whether any particular action is good or bad, or any proposition is true, or any thing exists or is real, or what makes a thing real, or what makes something reasonable. We learn these things from usage in language, but also from life itself.

When scholars argue about these things, they agree perfectly with each other about what the dictionary says, yet some say abortion is murder, and some do not. This is, partly, because scholars or scientists want to determine how words ought to be used, not just how other people use them. American dictionaries try to list all the ways the words are used--intelligently and stupidly alike.

Apart from all this, dictionaries are commercial enterprises and with a few exceptions they are full of shortcomings. The Oxford English Dictionary from the UK is 20 huge volumes of over 1000 pages each (for libraries, of course). It gives the historical development of words through literature, trying to show the more literate uses of words beyond mere fads or slang. A quick check for the quality of a dictionary is to look up a word that is hard to define--such as "swivel." Most desk dictionaries make a mess of that. I have a big older 2-volume OED, but it came with a huge magnifying glass that makes it legible--barely, in bright light.

Lastly, most dictionaries are old dictionaries with some updates and embellishments. Only occasionally is the vast undertaking of a new dictionary attempted due to cost. The original Webster's is going on 200 years of age. The Random House Dictionary of the American Language, a very large desk volume or library edition, started from scratch very well, but it is now 50 years old (with updates).

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

Your "abortion" is a bad example. From the dictionary, "the expulsion of an embryo or fetus before it is sufficiently developed to survive....." Murder, "The premeditated killing of another human being....." An embryo and fetus is a "potential" human being, therefore it is not a far stretch to call abortion murder. The fact that we have lost the relation to an absolute baseline of Godly principles, is what leads to our own conceptions of right and wrong. The dictionary definitions are quite precise, except for some words that have become colloquialisms, and skewed their meanings. The definition of abortion, as well as murder, stand on their own and are independent of one another. When you remove the absolute baseline is when misinterpretation comes in. That is the same with photography and post-processing, or pre-processing for that matter.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Photography as a word/phrase goes back to Ancient Greece and was adapted to the art of taking pictures very early on.

If drawing with pixels qualifies as drawing with light, then so would drawing with crayons as it is a deviation from the original.

Arguing that adjusting contrast is equivalent to adding things to the scene which were never there is, IMHO, a complete fail.

Charles 46277 Loc: Fulton County, KY

Yes, my example was a perfect example--some say murder is part of the definition, while others (you, the Supreme Court, and I) say no. But the point was that a dictionary defines words like good or evil--but does not help us tell one from the other in real life. That requires some philosophy.

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

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