Photographs are about point of view. They have always shown one perspective of the greater world through it’s monocular vision providing only a glimpse of what is directly in front of it without consideration of the extraneous information. The camera cannot be blamed for the myopic vision imparted by it, it is the role of the photographer themselves to point the lens and decide what is of visual importance. The person behind the camera is often forgotten when we view an image, but like the Great and Powerful Oz, there is a man behind the curtain pulling on his levers and switches.

The history of photography has shown us the various objects of importance and how they have transitioned from the iconic and idealized to the vernacular and mundane. One cannot exist without the other for it is through the other that each is defined. This is an examination of the dichotomy of vision within one space, separated by a single lens.