Pictures that Lie

     Too often images are altered to such an extent that the public is unable to tell if they are real or fake. Nat Ives discusses the issue of using Photoshop in her article in "Advertising Age". She says,"Photoshop abuse is out of control at magazines, partly because celebrities demand protection from exposure to reality and partly because editors live and die by newsstand sales. An actually ugly Betty just wouldn't be good for anyone's business, even if it might represent something relatable." The one of the most frequently discussed issue of photo manipulation seems to be that of altering photographs of celebrities to make them appear flawless. I agree with the statement from Nat Ives. Photoshop is definitely being abused in the media and it has had a negative effect on many individuals. Ives makes several good points on why photo manipulation should be banned. There is no reason for them to make the celebrities appear "perfect" and it does not serve any purpose besides assuring that celebrities are not embarrassed by a couple extra pounds on a few common imperfections.

     Photographs can be altered to show people looking entirely different than reality or to convey an entirely different meaning. There are many reasons that people choose to manipulate pictures whether it be for political or social gain, to persuade, for entertainment, to make a point, or to harm others. However, a distinction between harmful and beneficial photo manipulation must be made.

      For my pictures that lie project I did not choose to manipulate a photo in a way that was not harmful. I chose an image of an eye and another of a rock climber from stock exchange and pasted them together in a way that is obviously a manipulation of images. The same type of manipulation is often used in advertisements. I copied part on one picture and placed it overtop of the other. I changed to contrast and converted some of the picture into black and white. I used a photo filter and changed the saturation on the colored portion of the image. I manipulated this photo to show that there can be photo fakery that is harmful, and photo manipulation that is only for entertainment. Because this was not meant to look realistic, it is not a harmful manipulation. The point of the image in entirely different than that of the airbrushed celebrities discussed in the article by Nat Ives that attempt to "unrealistic ideals of body and beauty, to the detriment of women's health." When a photograph is meant to appear as though it has been altered, it is not harmful to society, but when there is confusion about whether or not the photograph represents reality, problems can develop.

Ives, Nat. "Despite talk of ethics codes, airbrushing is here to stay." Advertising Age 79.16 (2008): 24. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.