One might argue that each successful photograph either has resulted from an epiphany, or tends to create that quickening of perception in the viewer of the finished image.

Consider a few of the term’s mundane (non-theological) formulations:

(1): a typically sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.

(2): an intuitive (artistic?) grasp of reality through an event or scene, something simple and striking.

(3): an illuminating discovery, realization, disclosure.

(4): a revealing scene or moment.

The homely description in (4) might best fit the usual practice of photography.

Our composition produced in me most of the experiences listed in the lexicon — apart from the suddenness. It happened for me in a delayed and drawn-out manner; only after converting the motif to ink and paper, made large, did I reach a deeper appreciation.