Bumble: Post class 2/ 12

DANGER DANGER DANGER of photographs!

Is there such thing as reality? Our class discussion regarding the truth in photography made me think a lot about what sort of problems we all can get in by simply acknowledging photographs as true. Our minds are incapable of distinguishing between reality and fiction, that is why if our minds truly believe something about ourselves, it translates into the self fulfilling prophecy.

People tend to assume that truth lies in a photograph and that it is seen as concrete evidence and therefore must be true. Once upon a time this could have been true, but times are changing!
What is scary to think about is how easily photos can be manipulated. There are programs by the dozen which enable the user to change colors, textures, tones, and the content of photographs. Should this be allowed? These programs allow for people to develop their individualistic perspectives and create artwork. What if it is used deliberately to change the perception of the truth, is it considered lying?

I always wondered the most about photos while used in forensics. People use images and evidence in court cases to reveal the truth and help the jury make an honest decision. Photographs of crime scenes are often powerful tools to show concrete evidence to the court. In today’s world are photographs still allowed? Are digital pictures allowed? Anyone could plant evidence in a photo using these newly developed programs. You could put in a fingerprint, a bloody footprint, a dead man.

Who is to say what pictures have not been digitally altered. No one can tell by the naked eye. Is that photo of a Photoshop dead man fake?

Even with digital video editing, what is real and fake? Someone had showed me on YOU TUBE. This was a video of President Bush talking, but the person had altered the speed and pitch of the recording so he sounded severely intoxicated. The title of this video was called “Bush is Drunk.” While I might enjoy watching a video like this, is it real? This could have been one person’s perception of reality.

There was an article in the New York Times which I found fascinating called: “Proving That Seeing Shouldn’t Always Be Believing.” This article talked about the fact that due to the increase in digital manipulation (particularly in magazines like national inquirer and in journalism or criminal cases) they have a new field of study called digital forensics. Digital forensics is the study that examines photos and tries to determine whether or not they have been slightly altered. The details are so minute, but on a computer if any pixels at all were altered, then they change the number codes in the system. They then have to go through all of the numbers for any slight shifts. It takes a trained eye, but it is very important to do this.

We all need to be a part of the photo and determine for ourselves what is real and what we want to see as false. If we are in the process then we will not have an issue with trying to define everything we see. Give up on categorizing, because if I want to believe that a model has flawless skin and a size zero I can believe it. Someone else might choose to throw themselves into the photo and see that the model’s body was airbrushed to be about 3 sizes smaller, and that she actually has pimples.




IT IS ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE!