So - reality isn't enough, even as far as the 'reality' of the eleventh dimension. The must needs be 'something else' about a picture. In design function is formost and looks are a bonus. In a painting part of the 'something else' is the fact that it is oil paint on panel, that in itself can get us halfway to the otherness.

In a photograph it is not enough just to point and push, unless by travel and hardship you have arrived at 'somewhere else' [Mars] then just the fact that you have an image of the place can be enough. The image should work on three levels: Ah! Ahh! and Aha!

Always ask: what is it that this image is saying other than that it is an image. What is the story?