How reliable?

Thursday, 15th October 2009

If you missed today's class we watched a DVD documentary called 'Ethics in the Age of Digital Photography'. If you want to see a brief excerpt, you can catch one here.

Basically, we discussed how reliable images are in the media these days. With the use of computer technology and graphics software, images can be easily distorted. Is that a problem? Or is it only a problem when it's presented as the truth? For example, in 100 years from now people may look back on TIME Magazine as a primary document which evidences the reality of our lives today. If the covers and pictures within TIME Magazine are altered- are they giving an accurate representation? Does this matter?

This short clip shows how photo manipulation has been going on for many years....



This is just one example to show how images in the media are manipulated. (But be wary- its still an advertisement!)



As far as physically detecting whether an image is 'real' or 'fake' there are now experts who do this for a living. For the general public we can look for things such as differences in lighting, repeating patterns, changing date/time markers etc. But ultimately we should remind ourselves of these things:

- Texts (written or visual) may be based on fact or on fiction.
- They are created with specific audiences in mind, and attempt to convey a particular message.
- They often reflect culture-specific associations and frequently use stereotyping.
- The meaning that is conveyed is shaped by its context (where it is read, where it is viewed, what medium it is produced on etc)
- Our culture, environment, education and experiences shape the way we make meaning from these texts.
- The producer's culture, environment, education and experiences shape the way they attempt to create meaning in these texts.

General questions we should always ask are...
- When was the picture taken?
- Where was it taken?
- What format is it presented in? (eg a gossip magazine, a published book, a media display etc)
- What are the objects or subjects in the picture about?
- Who took the photograph?
- Why did they take it?

On your blog, write your reaction to the YouTube clips I posted & link back to me (about 200 words or so). Did they surprise you? Engage you? Was it expected? Did you know image manipulation had been around so long? Are you familiar with the idea that most media images are manipulated with 'Dr.Photoshop'? Does it matter to you whether an image is real or not? As you watch television commercials or read magazines do you keep these ideas in mind?