By Emelia Hitchner<\/p>\n
Photo manipulation has a face as weathered as the art of photography itself, but the threat of such a practice has increased dramatically due to the digital era.<\/p>\n
Transforming images to convey messages in a particular manner is a rising issue with society’s photojournalists as they seek ways to arouse public notice. Originally, the camera lens portrayed accuracy for the public eye, but with the aid of image editing software, a rising doubt has caused the community to question the true intentions of the media.<\/p>\n
“Photojournalism has a strict code of ethics prohibiting any alteration of a photograph other than what would have been done in a traditional chemical darkroom,” said Eric Breitenbach, Senior Professor of Photography Daytona State College.<\/p>\n
Fabricated news has contributed to the public’s wariness towards the media and\u00a0 the duty to represent accuracy is a constant battle in the field of competing journalists. Digital technology allows interventions that vary from apparent to discrete manipulations and the line between simple edits and substantial alterations can be a thin one.<\/p>\n
“A photographer may increase the density and contrast of an image and lighten or darken certain areas of it, but within reason. Any other manipulation is strictly prohibited,” said Breitenbach.<\/p>\n
Although consequences are severe for tampering with photographs used in news stories, photojournalists still attempt to revise with discretion. Recently, award-winning photographer Bryan Patrick of the Sacramento Bee was fired after it was discovered that he tampered with three of his most popular photographs.<\/p>\n
The photographs were brought to attention through public awareness. The first violation was a shot of a great egret snatching a frog away from a smaller egret. Patrick changed the photograph to make the frog in the great egret’s mouth more visible. In a second photograph of a sunflower field, Patrick removed an arm and his camera’s shadow and replaced sunflowers in the blank space. The third photograph of damage caused by wildfires was manipulated to enlarge the fires in the background. These alterations were noticed by none other than the viewers Patrick attempted to impress.<\/p>\n
Although they are seemingly small adjustments, the consequences for \u00a0such actions are serious. Even so, the gray areas of dodging, cropping, color alteration and enhancement are expected from viewers and add to the difficulty in ethically deciding where to draw the line.<\/p>\n
“I think that manipulating photos becomes unethical when the meaning of the photo is at risk of being undefined. For example, on a website it shows how Time magazine darkened the police image of O.J. Simpson to portray him in a negative manner,” said Emily Blackwood, a student studying journalism at University of Central Florida. “I don’t ever think it’s okay to manipulate photos. Our objectivity and accuracy are not worth losing.”<\/p>\n
Even popular magazines with the aid of celebrities are raising awareness of the rising threat of modified photographs. In 2010, pop star Brittany Spears willingly posed and released edited images beside the unaltered ones to display the deception of manipulation.<\/p>\n
According to the Society of Professional Journalists, it is the duty of the reporter to seek truth and report it, minimize harm and be accountable while doing so. The temptation to manipulate photographs to portray a certain opinion not only violates this code, but also raises distrust in media and the \u00a0information it provides.<\/p>\n
In an era where digital enhancement is easy and useful, it is often left to the discretion of the photographer to decide the boundaries that fall within the ethics of editing\u00ad \u2014 a feat not as simple as capturing a photograph with the click of the camera shutter. \u00a0But, manipulators be warned, technology and the use of metadata in images is making it increasingly more difficult to get away with it, not to mention the eagle-eyes of the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo manipulation has a face as weathered as the art of photography itself, but the threat of such a practice has increased dramatically due to the digital era.<\/p>\n
Transforming images to convey messages in a particular manner is a rising issue with society’s photojournalists as they seek ways to arouse public notice. Originally, the camera lens portrayed accuracy for the public eye, but with the aid of image editing software, a rising doubt has caused the community to question the true intentions of the media. Continue reading Deception on the rise, public trust decreases<\/span>