Pablo Picasso famously declared: “Art is a lie that tells the truth.” Surely, the art of photography – with its mechanically unbiased reproduction of the frozen moment – can’t lie. Or can it? Mexican photographer Pedro Meyer (b. 1935), a pioneer in the digital revolution of contemporary photography, insists that all photographs – manipulated or not – are equally true and untrue. Meyer argues that digital manipulation continues the tradition of so-called “straight photography” in which unwanted details are cropped out, or the photographer directs the scene from behind the camera, asking his subject to step out of the shadows into better light. In addition, Meyer contends that unseen elements like memory or emotion present themselves with a physical reality equal to visible objects. In his photographs, these elements often appear with a clarify that connects his work to the tradition of Magical Realism.