Thinking about hybrid images

A photograph records the light in a particular slice of time and space. Often, in modern photography, the film or digital sensor is exposed for just a few milliseconds, and people perceive this time as a single moment. We, as viewers, may sometimes feel that a photograph is a testament, a tangible moment of truth, in which the facts and elements of a complex case are laid bare.

Consider the following photograph, taken by Kanu Gandhi in February 1940. Between 1938 and 1948, the photographer documented the private life of his great-uncle, Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian independence leader and pacifist philosopher. Here, we see the Mahatma (left) meditating with Rabindranath Tagore (right), the Nobel Prize-winning poet:

At first glance, we may interpret this as a documentary photo, which appeals to our curiosity about a private meeting between two famous men. We may imagine that we are simply studying the facts about the men's pose, their expressions, and their surroundings...