Seeing isn’t Believing: Photo Manipulation in the Digital Age

Kalyn Belsha

April 30, 2012

https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/seeing-isnt-believing-photo-manipulation-digital-age

 "Say Click, Take A Pic, Then Stop to Think"  

First Impression:

As the saying goes, "the eyes can be deceived". In the modern era, photo manipulation has been really popular until today from making one's ugly looks into supermodel-looks thanks to Photoshop to creating fake moments and achievements on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It always make me skeptical of most images of people nowadays, for they are either doing this for some sort of crazy gag or they are just trying to make themselves look so good.

Quote: 

"We are not walking photocopiers. We are storytellers."

Reflection Proper: 

People always believe what they see, rather more than what they hear, especially when it comes to the modern era, via social media, video streams and news. But thanks to photo manipulation, it always make one skeptical of what to trust, and what to believe in. Photo manipulation has been a very pressing topic, especially when it comes to creating such scandals or lies, or to create something that makes something equivalent to the words "scandalous", "menacing" or "chaotic", like for instance, people online are always using Photoshop or any type of digital manipulation software just to make their bodies look good or to make a fake identity for themselves, or an example in the article about Time Magazine's 1994 cover of O.J. Simpson which was way out of line due to the fact they had darkened Simpson's mugshot so much that it makes him look menacing, which is practically offensive to black people. Of course, photo manipulation sometimes has its good side like making photos look brighter and better, but like everything else in our world, such tools create good or bad effects depending on the way you use them. Based on this load of information, I would say that everyone should use photo manipulation responsively, and in such a way that doesn't cause any harm or offense to others, and also to be careful on one's actions online, because in this sense, the photos one posts and creates online is a reflection on who he or she is on the inside: a honest and responsive citizen or a slanderous, good-for-nothing,. attention-seeking liar.

5 Things Learned From Article: 

1. I learned about photo manipulation becoming a cause for skepticism in the online world nowadays.

2. I learned that in recent years. photo manipulation scandals have been becoming more frequent and prominent than ever.

3. I learned about photo manipulation began way before the release of Photoshop.

4. I learned about the NPPA code of conduct.

5. I learned that we, as viewers, must accept the fact that the photographers are the ones in charge of their presented image, and trust them to tell nothing but the truth only, even a version of it.

5 Integrative Questions:

1. Why do people resort to such lengths such as photo manipulation in the online world?

2. Why is "fake news" even done in the first place, not to mention photo manipulation scandals, especially when it comes to important and significant issues and topics?

3. How come even in history, there had been earlier cases of photo manipulation, good and bad?

4. Do all photojournalists and photographers know the NPPA code of conduct, even ones that are working for tabloids?

5. How do one instill the fact that photographers will keep their word about telling the truth in their photos?