Abstract
There are photographs whose subjects seem to be miniatures although they are real objects. Such photographs are interesting in three viewpoints. First, it's from the point of view of size-distance judgment in depth perception. What kinds of visual factors are involved in this miss-judgment? Second, it's from the point of view of the reality judgment. How do we judge whether it is a real object or not? Third, it's from the socio-cultural background of the appearance of these photographs. While the recordability of photographs increases technically, the photographs denying it have appeared one after another. What kind of social background is involved in this phenomenon? Focusing the first viewpoint, I will discuss the miniature effect from the visual factors, such as camera angle, out-of-focus, color-contrast, linear perspective, and so on. I will also briefly refer to the reality judgment and the socio-cultural background. Aisthesis comes from an ancient Greek word which means "perception" in a broad sense. This concept can be approached from various viewpoints, namely, from sensation to emotion, and from physiology to culture. Through the photographs whose subjects look like miniatures, I would like to discuss about "the perception as aisthesis" from the multi-layered viewpoints.
