Veronica Hall
vh250319@ohio.edu
Photojournalism is an essential part of journalism. Photojournalism is an important communication tool that is used to help tell a story. It can create an emotional response among readers as well. Sometimes photos are manipulated to tell a certain narrative.
I love photography. There is just something so special about being able to capture a moment and being able to look back on it. Unfortunately, sometimes photos are not able to tell the whole story.
On July 10th, Walt Disney World Resorts opened its doors to the public for the first time since March 16th due to the COVID-19. While many people were happy about the opening of the world-renown theme park, many were not.
Quickly images surfaced on the internet to show how crowded Magic Kingdom looked. A blogger from Theme Park Review pointed out that it is all about perception.
Below we see a photo of a line of people waiting to ride Splash Mountain. This photo makes it look people are on top of each other and that it is a crowded area. Take note of the red arrows. One arrow is pointing at a girl with a yellow shirt. The other is pointing at a man with a grey t-shirt and a blue baseball cap.
Photo courtesy of Theme Park Review on Facebook
Now let's take a look at what this line really looks like from a different angle.
Photo courtesy of Theme Park Review on Facebook
Notice the red arrows. One arrow is pointing to the same girl from the original photo in a yellow shirt while the other arrow is pointing to the same man from the original photo in the grey shirt with a blue baseball cap.
This is an example of how photo manipulation and perception are used to tell a certain narrative. The first photo was used as a scare tactic and to try to paint Disney World's reopening as a disaster and unsafe. While going to a theme park may not be the safest thing to do right now, the second photo shows that guests were properly following protocols of social distancing while waiting in line for the ride.
While photo manipulation can be a beautiful form of art, it is incredibly harmful for journalists to use in their work. The mission of journalism is to present the facts to the public and let the public make their decision. When journalists manipulate their photos, they are sending out a false image which can be a false message. If a journalist or organization gets caught manipulating images, it will eventually lead to the journalist or organization losing their credibility.
Veronica,
ReplyDeleteI genuinely enjoyed how informative your blog was regarding photo manipulation. It is enlightening to see the images from the same situation but from two different perspectives. It is very concerning how narratives are manipulated to fit whatever narrative journalists intend to drive home to their audience, even when journalists are not using imagery.
Photos certainly take it a step further though, considering most people feel that by seeing it with their own two eyes to be a confirmation of one's own reality, but as your post points out, that simply is not always the case today.
Hi Veronica,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your post. Perspective is key. Photo manipulation is definitely another way in which false narratives are spread. I have found in life that people often search for the narrative that confirms their opinion about a particular situation rather than searching out all the facts, even if those facts prove to be contrary to what they think or believe.