Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Research Poll


--it may need a bit of work still, but i feel that these questions will help with the overall point of my topic.

Photography Poll

  1. Out of these photographs, which do you think are edited?
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 1 and 3
    • 1 and 2
    • 2 and 3

  1. Which best describes your reaction to these photographs, now that you know which ones have been edited? If desired, please explain why.
o       Angry
o       Sad
o       Amused
o       Indifferent








  1. Out of these photographs, do you find any offensive? If so, please explain why.
    • Yes
    • No







  1. In your opinion, should violent photographs be shown in the news or for historical purposes? If desired, please explain why.
    • Yes
    • No









  1. Generally, what type of photographs would you say you see the most in one day?
    • Violent photographs
    • Comical photographs
    • Beauty advertisements
    • Food advertisements

  1. Which of these photographs stands out to you most? If desired, please explain why.





  1. If you knew that a photograph had been edited or manipulated, would there be any circumstance in which you would be okay with that photo being used somewhere in the media? If so, please explain where and why.
    • Yes
    • No

Influential Photography


In Brooks Johnson’s book Photography Speaks, the author tries to communicate the meaning of photographs according to the photographer that took the shot. Johnson makes it clear in the preface that the intent of his book is not simply to show pictures from a historical point of view, but establish the meaning and depth that is behind certain photographs. Johnson tries to inform his audience on the passion and obsession that many people have with photography, both the photographers themselves and the people who adore and collect photographs. Johnson’s book also gives both the collector’s and the photographers statements on what the photograph meant to them emotionally, giving the audience very different, sometimes strangely similar, perspectives to learn from. Johnson’s book relates very well with this research project, for the research’s intent is to uncover how photographs can affect an audience both mentally and emotionally and what kind of photos have the biggest impact on an audience. Johnson’s book will help establish why photographs are such an important part of the media and why different photos have a stronger effect than others. (182)

Works Cited
Johnson, Brooks. Photography Speaks. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, Inc., 1989.    Print.
I thought i would post the image that we made in photoshop--after all, it should represent me, which my blog is only an extension of.

Topic Alteration...once again...

So my last topic change ended up taking me back to my previous topic. So i thought, why not combine the two?

Here is my current thesis/research proposal for my research project:



Painless Plastic Surgery:
Editing and Manipulation in Photography
            Television, magazines, books, smart phones, iPod’s, billboard’s, and newspapers are just a few of the media’s mediums—all of which have some sort of photograph printed on them or contain photographs through the internet or via satellite. Because the public is surrounded by visual images, the media must be careful what images are put out and in what way those images are used. Beauty and violence are two of the biggest themes that the public sees quite frequently on a day to day basis. Whether there is an advertisement for a new shooter video game, a news story of a murder or an advertisement for the latest facial cream that claims to take twenty years off of another insecure woman’s life, photography plays a huge element in translating a message to each and every viewer. Even in the last generation, the media’s audience and means to advertise has increased enormously, raising the rate and lowering the age of exposure to all types of visual images. Today, the ease of which photographs can be manipulated in all aspects of the media can be dangerous, especially considering emotional trauma or overall damage the public could suffer as a result. By examining how photography affects the public and the intent and position of the photographer, one can begin to understand how potentially influential visual images can be.
            Even from photography’s inception, its inventors have known how incredible yet deceitful the art form could be. As Brooks Johnson put it, “Photographic truth is malleable; both the image-maker and the image-user are in possession of a medium that can significantly alter the way we perceive the world and process the information it contains” (Johnson 2). By saying this, Johnson confirms that even the earliest users of photography knew how to alter their photographs in such a way that the audience may not be viewing what actually took place; however, in the earliest times of photography, being able to alter or manipulate a photograph was a special skill and not a cheap one, either. Another reason photographs were not edited nearly as much during their invention was due to the fact that photography was a new and upcoming fad. Many of the photographs taken during this time period were portraits or pictures of ordinary, everyday life. Because people had no experience with photography, the thought of erasing blemishes, wrinkles, or making one’s body shape more ‘appealing’ did not exactly register with early photographers.
Before further examination of manipulation in photography, one must first understand what exactly manipulation is in this case. Photographic manipulation is considered to be anything from erasing blemishes, digitally elongating a model’s neck, or even staging photographs that claim to be live action or real time shots. The broadness of this definition can potentially get a lot of photographers into trouble, yet it also provides a loophole for people to claim ignorance to what exactly photo manipulation is. Not only can people claim ignorance, there is also an argument that photo manipulation, mainly in advertising, is not a problem because the public knows that the images are edited. While many people in the public know that photographs are altered in some way or another, it is doubtful that they know to what extent. Correspondingly, Alexis Beck, a clinical nutritionist that was interviewed on a diet.com video called The Photoshop Effect where she stated, “I don’t think women and girls know the extent to which photos are retouched…even if they do know, I’m not sure it penetrates.” This reinstates the idea that even if the public knows about the editing, due to the fact that we cannot see both the raw and altered photograph it oftentimes does not register in our minds that the photograph is not necessarily truthful. Women and men are exposed to preconceived notions of how they are supposed to look, think, and act through the media’s images everyday. For example, the women in lingerie magazines or on billboards and men posing as underwear models have fit, tone bodies that have no stretch marks or blemishes anywhere. Similarly, models that represent beauty companies with their many creams or covers have flawless skin with no wrinkles, sunspots, or creases of any kind. After being exposed to these images it is understandable how any person would feel inferior, even knowing that the images are edited. There are certainly cases in which manipulating a photo is more unacceptable in one situation than in another; however, if the media is going to continue to manipulate the images it puts out, the public ought to be more informed about how and why a photo has been altered in the first place.
While photo manipulation may be a well-known practice in advertising, it is doubtful that the public knows much about or would be comfortable with the idea of altering a news or historical photograph. There are some who claim that the images in the news would be too raw or graphic for children and editing is acceptable in those cases, while there are others, like Eamonn McCabe, who believe that, “There are times when you have to show disturbing photographs in order to make the readers realise what is happening in the world and hopefully get something done about it” (McCabe 194). In this case, McCabe illustrates that the role of the photographer is to get a message across to the people by not editing or censoring the photograph but letting the rawness of the image speak for itself. However, motivation of the people can be a dangerous goal for photographers to seek due to the fact that many photos that are taken are not as powerful as the photographer would like them to be. Though McCabe makes a solid point that informing the readers on issues in the world is important, there are cases in which some people may take advantage of their photojournalistic power and edit their photos slightly in order to spread a message. For instance, a photographer during the American Civil War era, Malcolm Brady, decided to edit his photographs in a miniscule way; yet, he still passed them off as if they had never been manipulated. Brady photographed dead soldiers in trenches, but because they were so far apart he felt they did not have the overwhelming effect he was reaching for. In order to achieve this effect, Brady edited the men in the photos to make them closer together and in doing so, make the war look more devastating than the original photographs would have. While Brady may have had good intentions, the fact that he edited a photograph and then put it into a paper that is supposed to present the public with factual information should still be unacceptable. If the public were to give any kind of leeway on manipulation of photographs in the news or for historical purposes, one may find it hard to draw the line of acceptable manipulation versus unacceptable manipulation farther down the road. (McCabe)
When talking about the news, one may find it easy to understand why manipulating images would be objectionable; yet just as the news is supposed to state the truth, our history books, museums, and any other type of historical education are also supposed to be truthful. If one is fed false information along with altered visual images, one will remember history in the wrong way or in a way that never occurred. As Mary Ann Bell stated, “Young children especially lack the judgment to evaluate what they see and hear and separate hype from truth” (Bell 4). If one remembers being in a history class, one would remember how influential the pictures were compared to text or the teacher’s lecture. Because children can be influenced so easily and absorb and retain information so quickly, teachers must be careful about what images the children are exposed to and the facts that the children are given. An important part of learning history is learning from the past; nevertheless, if the children learn the wrong information because they are misled by false photographs depicting how something happened or looked then they are no longer learning anything useful from history. The issue with making sure that the historical images correctly portray the events they are depicting is being able to know for sure whether or not a photo has been editing; this depends mostly on how much the photo was edited and how long ago the photo was taken. Adults who lived through historical events that have been photographed may be able to tell a fake photo from a real photo; however, even then one cannot be completely sure if the photographer does not want one to know. In addition to this, minor adjustments to photographs can often go undetected, such as adding light or dark to a photograph or having a photo staged. For example, the famous photo “Migrant Mother” taken by Dorothea Lange was actually one of many shots of the unfortunate family that had been set up in different poses to make the photograph more touching or pitiful.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

New Topic!

So instead of focusing on manipulation or editing in photography I have decided to swing my attention towards how different types of photographs can affect the public both mentally and emotionally. While i haven't narrowed it down completely, my research will be focused towards violent, news, and beauty advertisement photographs. I will still be doing a survey on campus but I will obviously need to alter the survey in order to fit my current topic.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Moodle Post (happened to line up with research!)


When reading Lester’s chapter on photography, which happens to line up directly with my research paper, the section that was the most intriguing would have to have been where Lester talks about a subject’s right to privacy when being photographed. Lester begins with referencing his earlier example of the famous photograph “Migrant Mother” in regards to Florence Thompson’s hurt and outrage that her photograph was published and very well-known. Lester inferred that the reason Thompson was looking away in the famous photograph was because looking away was the only way Thompson could have kept her privacy. Going along with this idea, earlier in the chapter Lester also explained that Thompsons outraged was focused mainly on the fact that she did not get any financial benefits from her photo and suffered the embarrassment of forever being the ‘poor woman,’ yet the photographer, Dorothea Lange, became very famous and wealthy after submitting the photo. While Lange was not compensated for the photo and the photo has not been removed from public view, she definitely got the attention of the public and raised a very important question about the ethical issues of photographing tragic news stories. While Lester has made a good point when he talks about a persons right to privacy, he goes on to bring up an important issue on the other end of the spectrum; the need for these tragic photographs for historical and educational purposes. Both sides of this argument are convincing and fair, making it hard to distinguish which of the two should be more prevalent when photographing for any type of news story.

Because there are different types of news, such as gossip versus political or social tragedy, there are different rules on what a journalist can or cannot photograph and the extent to which the pictures can be edited or manipulated. Either type of story, however, has a certain set of an individual’s privacy rights that must be followed. Lester seems to be very vague on where to draw the line when considering an individual’s right to privacy when it comes to photography. At the beginning of this section, Lester seems as if he is being sympathetic towards people who are photographed in weak states or have their personal life exploited. Yet, at the end of the section Lester goes on to talk about celebrities and the conditions that make their right to privacy less significant. Lester refers to celebrities as being people who are so much a regular part of news stories that they attract media attention and therefore have less of a right to privacy. This makes one wonder where the line can be drawn or how much privacy one is allowed depending on their lifestyle. Lester’s validation of a celebrity’s lack of privacy rights seems as if it is on the extreme spectrum of the argument, with little to no concern for the humanity that the celebrities still possess. Lester ends his article on privacy rights by directing a line at future photographers with the advice that “ethical behavior should not be guided by what is strictly legal” (282). By saying this, Lester opens up Pandora’s Box for photographers, guiding them in a direction to break ethical and legal rules in order to get the latest piece of news in a photograph. (537 words)

Works Cited

Lester, Paul Martin. Visual Communication: Images with Messages. 5th. Boston, MA:        Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

The Sad Truth

Painless Plastic Surgery: Ethical Issues in Photo Editing



Painless Plastic Surgery: Ethical Issues in Photo Editing
            In Lester’s Visual Communication: Images with Messages, photography has an entire chapter devoted to understanding six perspectives of the art: personal, historical, technical, ethical, cultural, and critical. For the purposes of this research paper, the information given by Lester in the chapter gives background information on all of the issues that will be discussed, while also giving direction for further reference points that could be utilized. Because Lester’s book was not made to only discuss the ethical issues with photography, the chapter on photography does not go into great detail, however, there is enough information that leads to further references and gives a base structure to the thesis of this research paper. Lester’s chapter on photography covers how pictures are taken, what kind of lens is used, the right to privacy of subjects being photographed, picture manipulation, as well as historical aspects of photography and how the craft has changed since its invention. In addition to this information, Lester also includes famous paintings and photographs to support his ideas and provides many links that may be utilized for images regarding this research paper. (183)

Works Cited
Lester, Paul Martin. Visual Communication: Images with Messages. 5th. Boston, MA:        Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Examples of Photography Manipulation--how can those influence audiences?



Editing in Photojournalism
            In Kenneth Kobré’s, Photo Journalism: The Professionals’ Approach, there is an enormous amount of focus on the different types of photographs and how those individual photographs may affect audiences. While Kobré’s book is not focused on the idea of picture editing, there is still a great amount of insight in natural pictures and focus on how that naturalness can still be very appealing to an audience’s pathos. Kobré uses picture examples from simple portraits to devastating news pieces that expose raw human emotion. Kobré’s examples cover quite a wide range and have quite a lot to do with the history of photography and the future that may be to come. By covering this range of photos, Kobré spreads the focus from just controversial photos to everyday portraits or candid shots. While the focus is not on editing, there is still an entire section in the back of the book on the ethics of photojournalism and the guidelines that ought to be followed when thinking of publishing certain photographs while posing questions about how much picture editing should be allowed with photographic examples of edited pictures.


Works Cited
Kobré, Kenneth. Photo Journalism: A Professionals’ Approach. Boston: Focal Press,         2000. Print.

Manipulation in Photographs



Photo Editing: Negative Effects
In Tom Ang’s Picture Editing: Second Edition, he discusses how picture editing is done and the hot debates over if photo editing is ethical or moral. Ang gives the reader a view of photo editing from not only the professionals point of view but from the reader or subject’s (person who was being photographed) point of view. Ang’s research covers from how pictures are edited and in what types of news, such as newspapers, magazines, or books, to the legality and social issues that could possibly come along with editing. This is crucial to analyzing if photo editing has a negative effect due to the fact that Ang’s book lacks bias on either side of the issue and goes behind the scenes to let the reader know exactly how and why there is editing in photojournalism; informing the public about sides of the issue they may have never considered before. Ang also includes examples of edited photographs, giving the reader an easier view of what is happening, rather than trying to just explain how an edited photograph can affect the public.


Works Cited
Ang, Tom. Picture Editing: Second Edition. Oxford: Focal Press, 2000. Print.