However, when reality is created by the hand and the eye, regardless of how true or objective the piece may seem to be, it will never show the reality that is possible through a lens. This would suggest that without the use of the lens, that is photography and cinema, we would not actually be able to capture anything that could hope to attain a true standard of realism. One could say that photography creates a perfect image of reality; where the limits of a painters skills determine the level of realism, photography allows us to capture an image of reality with no editing. Therefore cameras and photography in all forms create a picture of the real which has never before been attainable.
Although the realism through the lens is unquestionably more than on canvas, whilst still considering photography, we must also examine film. Despite the fact that films do create a visual realism, they can often depart from this reality through story, plot, dialogue, effects etc. This destroys the realism of the images. Using colour photography brought true realism as man had never achieved before, after this discovery the only way to go was back. Film gave the avenue. The realism of what we see is used to create worlds, objects and people that do not exist. The Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange (1971) visually is real. We see real people, real objects yet, the story and situations are so ludicrous that they could not even begin to be real; but perhaps we are creating a reality in another sense. Film shows us worlds which although they could fit into the category of realism, may not be realistic in terms of the psychological realism yet they do match the criteria on an aesthetic level. From now on realism will be considered both in the aesthetic sense and the psychological sense.
Documentary could be said to be the highest form of realism. In essence it is the observation of a real situation through a lens over a period of time.
