Is photography an approximation of reality?
Yes. Always has, always will be. I mean, nothing in our world is two dimensional.
Sometimes I like to try to represent the world as accurately as I can. I like the feeling of recording an event. These photos get minimal modification: denoise, hot pixel removal, white balance, crop, rotation, exposure compensation.
Other times I just like creating art. Sometimes I modify my photos so much that they aren't even recognizable any more. The photo was just an inspiration, a catalyst that sparked off a series of experiments that resulted in a final piece that cannot be called a photo, but is still a valid piece of art.