Seeing Is Not Believing

Dominic Bush

db583018@ohio.edu 

 

 

Photo Manipulation

In our ever-changing society social media, TV, and Movies have become the rulers of visual media. Many people turn to these forums for entertainment, information, keeping up with friends, and even showing themselves off. Due to this, many visual media are misleading now because of photo manipulation.

Picture source: RedShark

Photo manipulation is a danger to the world of media due to the inherent untruthfulness of changing a photo. Context can be skewed or lost, and anyone with a computer or phone can change photos for free. This creates distrust between consumers and producers of visual media.

Photo manipulation is most prevalent on social media in our current society and it is causing a false reality of media sharing. There is an entire portfolio of apps and programs for changing the original integrity of a picture, and social media uses this to the fullest.

A great example of this is in a study done by John Mingoia. The study dealt with Australian people who desired a specific tan, and they wanted to see how people edit their photos to achieve this look. The study found that over 85% of people in the study use filters, and over 20% of participants use some photoshopping app like FaceTune.

This creates a false reality in our world of social media. It gives media consumers an untrue representation of a person or thing.

This is why photo manipulation is so dangerous. False information and fake narratives being spread creates distrust and leaves consumers grasping for the truth that nobody knows anymore. It gives the producer of the media control over the consumer's feelings. The same image can create fear, disappointment, happiness, or even anger, depending on how the image was edited.

According to Scitechdaily.com, a study done by the International Centre for Journalists found that over 11% of journalists use some sort of photo manipulation tool. This goes against a core journalistic principle of truth. By changing a photo from its original state, journalists are compromising the integrity of that photo and the rest of the story or work. It makes media consumers have a hard time discerning the truth because of the lack of transparency and integrity. 

Photo manipulation is an inherent problem with media. It removes the truth from whatever the photo represents and promotes the narrative of the creator. These manipulations can cause divides between people, instead of showing visual, truthful information. All in all, photo manipulation is all too prevalent in our current world, and if it continues there will be no way to confidently believe what you ever see again.