Jan 2, 2009 | Reality Check at the Metropolitan Museum

I just came back from a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York, and it seems like you can never see enough of it, just like the Louvre. One special exhibit I highly recommend is Reality Check: Truth and Illusion in Contemporary Photography which runs from now until March 22. It's a collection of photographs that, according to the museum,

presents a selection of photographs that tread nimbly on the fault lines between reality and artifice, generating a sense of uncertainty about what is real and what is not

Julian Faulhaber, Tankstelle [Gas Station], 2008 Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The highlight of the exhibition is precisely not knowing which of the photos have been manipulated and which are untainted - as the accompanying description for the photo above described, it is perhaps "surprising" that the image uses traditional photographic methods, instead of digital manipulation. In an age where even journalists cannot be trusted, it takes a good hand to make it an art form to enjoy. This is an exhibit you should definitely see - just be prepared for some surprises.

Also written on this day..

• 2012: Predictions for 2012
• 2011: New Years Predictions for 2011
• 2010: Predictions for 2010
• 2008: The PageRank Checker Demystified
• 2005: Paris to Dijon, Courmayeur, Bologna, Torino