Will Bassing - Reproduction and Representation

In class we were briefly discussing the difference between a reproduction and a representation of the physical world.  A representation is a rendition created through the perspective of an artist.  To reproduce is make an identical replication of the physical world.  I was wondering how photography is not a form of reproduction.  If this is thought of through a platonic mindset, then a photograph is farther from the forms than the painting.  When a photo is taken, the light travels through a lens or multiple lenses, then a negative is (or could be) created, then the film is developed, and then copies of those final images can then be made.  That is 5 steps away from the original item that was captured in the camera, and that item itself is already one step away from the Truth of the forms.  A painting however, is a representation of the natural world through the perception of the artist.  So this is only 3 steps away, 1 is the object itself, 2 is the perception of the artist, and 3 is our perception of the art.  So according to Plato, a picture captured through a camera is farther from the Truth than a painting, even though a picture can be a more accurate reproduction of the natural world.