H O W T H I S T E C H N O L O G Y I S A B E C O M I N G A N E G A T I V E I S S U E I N S O C I E T Y

PHOTO MANIPULATION

Another Student

WHAT IS IT?Photo Manipulation: the application of editing technology to photographs to create an illusion or deception.

WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

• Any manipulation of a photograph distorts the truth.• Used in..• Personal/Private• Advertisements• Celebrities• Journalism• Science

PERSONAL/PRIVATE

The customer of this picture wanted all but three of the people removed from the photo. The outcome is

essentially a “false reality” and a lie.

FALSE-ADVERTISING

Banned ad featuring Christian Dior mascara. The ad claims: “It delivers spectacular volume-multiplying effect, lash by lash.” Portman’s eyelashes were digitally enhanced using Photoshop.

EXAMPLES..

This false-advertising can even be seen in food.

Nice view of the Capitol from hotel!...Not.

Deception about hotel pool.

CELEBRITIES/BODY IMAGE

“When a magazine puts a person on it’s cover, our expectation is that the person we are seeing is the person who was seen through the lense of the photographer.” –Carl Stepp, University of Maryland professor of Journalism

Photoshopping celebrities is not anything new to us. In fact, most of the images we see on a regular basis of celebrities are edited and display “unachievable beauty”. These are creating negative body images for the world to see.

JOURNALISMIn the 1982 cover of the National Geographic Magazine, the picture of the pyramids at Giza in Egypt was squished onto the vertical page making the pyramids seem much closer than they really are. They apologized and have never manipulated their photos since.

SCIENCE

• Editing photographs in the science field is becoming more and more popular. This photo, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, was altered to make the colors stand out more. The human eye would not see as much in the original.

UNETHICAL?

The fact that photos are being manipulated just about everywhere is sad and scary. You can never truly know if a photo is real or if it is just a complete lie. It creates false-advertising, body image issues, deceptive information and untruthful ‘evidence’. This is a serious issue that affects nearly everyone on the planet and needs to be taken more seriously. Photoshop can be a good thing, as long as it is used appropriately in the right place at the right time.

BENEFITS OF PHOTOSHOP

Photoshop is a very beneficial tool used in marketing.

Companies can edit photos of their products to enhance colors, sizes, and the overall quality to convince the consumers to buy their product.

Photoshopping can be very valuable if it is used the right way. However… if the edited photos are used to deceive the buyers in a way that is a “lie”, it can cause major issues with the companies and the trustworthiness with the consumers.

CONCLUSION

WE NEED TO BE SKEPTICAL

CONSUMERS!Don’t always believe everything you see.

Do your research and don’t let the pictures deceive you.Use Photoshop responsibly and for the right reasons.

Know that the celebrities in the magazines usually display a negative body image. They are not “perfect” as they appear to be.

SOURCESKiel, Judy. “Who Moved My Pyramid? An Overview of Digital Imaging Ethics in Photojounalism” The Museum of Hoaxes (n.d.) Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

Wade, Nicholas. "It May Look Authentic; Here's How to Tell It Isn't." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Jan. 2006. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

Williams, Alex. “I was there. Just ask Photoshop.” New York Times 17 Aug. 2008: Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 26 Mar. 2013

"Photoshop." Minted Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.