The point is that a photon is a boson particle. At the moment we detect a collision, the photon ceases to exist. Prior to the collision a photon existed. We can only ever detect where and when a photon has struck something. Never the photon itself.
I know that photons are bosons. I know that they cease to exist when they interact with electrons. What I don’t understand is why you think that those facts (which are not in dispute) make it wrong to say that we detect photons.
The point is that a photon is a boson particle. At the moment we detect a collision, the photon ceases to exist. Prior to the collision a photon existed. We can only ever detect where and when a photon has struck something. Never the photon itself.
I know that photons are bosons. I know that they cease to exist when they interact with electrons. What I don’t understand is why you think that those facts (which are not in dispute) make it wrong to say that we detect photons.