this is, essentially, a parable about human perception. the young photographer cannot discern the truth with his eyes, but only with his camera. the initial conflict of the film--and the necessity for making the blow-ups in the first place--is the distinction between what his eyes see and what the camera sees; he assumes that he can perceive reality well enough, but his pictures, examined in detail, suggest there is a reality going on around us that our eyes cannot understand. all truth, finally, is subjective, as we cannot know what is "out there